Aishiteru Naruto
by Doomanator
Summary: COMPLETE:. We take a look at the most crucial time of Naruto's childhood. Naruto begins to live life on his own and tries to learn what it means to care for someone. The three year old meets other children and learns what it means to be a friend.
1. The Locked Door

Disclaimer - I do not own Naruto...Never did...Never will...sigh

**Aishiteru Naruto**

**Chapter 1- The locked door.**

written by - Treina

_Naruto - Age: three_

Three years after a certain demon was sealed into a certain baby, the hidden village of Konoha was just beginning to go back into peace. People were able to smile again, even those who lost family members due to the demon kitsune, everyone was able to laugh again. In these days the Uchiha clan was still around and Hyuuga Neji had not yet received his curse seal.

On this day, everyone was for the most part, happy. Everyone but one boy that is, while every other little three year old boy and girl was out living a normal life, Uzumaki Naruto was already living a hard one. There he stood in front of the entire village council, who were still trying to figure out what to do with him. There was no one in the village who would take him.

For the past three years the Third Hokage watched over him. Naruto stayed in a small room in the Third's apartment, there was no one and nothing to ever play with, but Naruto didn't really care, he stayed in his room, waiting for the third to get home. The Hokage grew to love the little boy, but felt sad for him as well, no one would take this sweet boy in with them and there was not much that he could do for the boy, although he would try.

But the Hokage went the country of mist accompanied by ANBU for a mission. The council reassured the Third that they would find someone to take Naruto in until he returned, but this task seemed to be harder then they thought. The council finally had to pay a great amount of money in order to find someone to take him for two days.

So a confused three year old Naruto with small tears in his eyes stood in front of the council, having no idea what was going on and where the Third went. A kind old man brought a small chair for the blond and sat him down. There Naruto waited, he thought he was waiting for the Third to arrive, but he was greatly mistaken.

Fifteen minutes later a woman came walking in, not looking to happy, or friendly. She walked up to the long table and exchanged a few words with the council, they handed her a thick envelope and then she turned around, scowling at the little three year old blond. She quickly grabbed his wrist and led him to her small house in the middle of the village.

When he first stepped into the house he noticed how wonderful it smelled, almost like flower field in the village, but there was another smell mixed with it, one he couldn't describe.

The woman led him down a small hallway, Naruto noticed a small boy around his age poking his head out of the door, Naruto smiled and waved his hand, but the other little boy stepped back into his room and closed the door. Soon the woman came to another door at the end of the hallway, she opened it and led him inside.

"Now you just stay in here and be quiet, I will bring you some food later," the woman said.  
Naruto smiled and nodded his head, "kay"  
But the woman closed the door, locking him in, he could hear her footsteps walking down the hall. Naruto did as he was told, and for hours he just sat on his bed quietly, smiling, thinking about what kind of food that he would be getting for dinner, taking in the nice new smell of the house.

Soon it got dark and finally he heard someone un-locking the door, the woman stepped into the room, placed a plate of food on the and left, locking the door once again. From the other side of the door Naruto could hear the woman, "go to bed after you eat," then the sound of footsteps walking down the hall once again.

Well this was something new, usually the Third would always feed him, and what was this green stuff? Naruto sat for a long time staring at his plate, wondering if he should dare try to eat this strange food that sat in front of him. He took a bite, deciding it was good, he ate the rest, leaving the green stuff un-touched. He was a mess, the bed was a mess, what do you expect? He is a three year old. Feeling his eyes drop he opened them wide, trying to fight the sleep. He had to wait for the Third.

Three o clock in the morning Naruto snapped awake from a terrible nightmare, crying he went to leave the room in search for that woman, but the door was locked. Naruto banged on the door screaming.

The woman awoke to someone screaming at the top of their lungs banging on a door.  
"Noooooooooooooooooo! AAAHhhhhhhhhhhh"  
The woman dashed out of her room and down the hall to see her little boy standing in front of Naruto's door. She realized that it was Naruto who was doing all the screaming, she frowned, walked up to the door and banged on it as well.  
"Stay quiet in there!" The yelled, turning to her son who was almost in tears himself.  
"You go back to your room," she ordered her son and he ran off into his room, closing the door.

The young beautiful woman took out her keys and un-locked the door to take a peek inside. When she looked, she saw a very terrified Naruto, tear stained cheeks, snot running down his nose.  
"Go back to bed"  
Naruto shook his head no, more tears welling up in his eyes.  
"You better be quiet!" She demanded and closed the door once again, locking it.

What was she supposed to do? Let this little demon run around her house? She didn't care what he looked like, as far as she was concerned, he was dangerous. She wouldn't even allow him here if it wasn't for how hard things were getting, her husband died in the Kyuubi massacre and was only living on what little she was able to sell.

True things were getting better in the long run, the city was in peace and people could once again be happy. But the destruction caused by the demon fox was massive and the economy was still in the low, there were more homeless people and children in the streets. The only thing that this city had going for them was their allies who would deliver food and supplies weekly after they heard about the Kistune tragedy.

What choice did she have but to accept this demon into her house for a few days? She thought it would be simple enough to just keep him locked in that room, but now she was greatly regretting her decision, Naruto had been screaming for hours now, her son began crying too and she knew that this had to stop.

Naruto was terrified out of his mind, it was pitch black in his room and the door wouldn't open, his eyes played terrible tricks on him in the dark. Naruto turned his head away from the door to look into the darkness, more tears ran down his eyes. He screamed once more, attempting to open this wretched door. Soon the woman opened the door and scowled at the little boy.

"What are you doing!" She yelled in very mean, ugly voice.  
Naruto ran into the woman, hugging her legs. But the woman jerked away pushing him off her, "don't touch me! Do you hear me?" She screamed, making her son burst into tears once again.  
"Go to bed!" She demanded, pointing to her son, and he ran back into his room.  
"You..." She said in a angry voice, fists clenched.

_xox**SLAP**__xox_

It happened so fast, he was screaming his head off, causing her son to scream his head off. She never realized that a three year old child could scream for four hours strait, she even had to explain to a group of Jounnins that showed up at her door. But now it was quiet, not a sound in the house, even her son didn't make a noise after he heard the sound of someone getting hit, he was confused, he had never seen his Mommy get that mad before.

There Naruto lay, eyes closed, unconscious. He had a huge red mark on the side of his face that was beginning to swell. The woman stood in the hallway, hands shaking, body shaking, her mind was racing two hundred miles an hour. In a way she felt relived, this little demon boy killed her husband a week after she had birth to her son, since then her life had been hell. But she still felt like she could not get even, she would have to kill the boy. The only problem was the council, they would never allow her to get away with it, they would either lock her up or kill her for sure.

'But why would they want this demon? Why would they keep us all in danger by letting it live?'

By the time Naruto woke up it was already past noon and he was back in that room, but at least it wasn't dark. He sat up dizzily, feeling the pain in his cheek, tears began to weld up in his eyes once more. He looked on the foot of the bed and there was food sitting there once again, at the foot of his bed, but eating was not on his mind. He was going to get the hell out of there, but alas the door was locked and the window was way to high for him to reach, so he cried some more.

The woman sitting in the kitchen heard that it was awake and decided that she couldn't stand it anymore, she would no longer allow this thing to disrupt her house and what was left of her family. She would give half the money back to the council if they wanted, she would no longer harbor the very thing that tore her family apart.

"Stay in your room hun, Mommy is going to go drop off that screaming thing," she explained to her son.  
Out of all that his mother said, he understood stay in your room very well, and he would do just that and try to make sure that he wouldn't get his Mommy as mad as she was this morning.

Soon Naruto found himself being dragged somewhere by that mean woman, but he was happy enough to be outside and not in that room. Naruto decided he hated that smell that he once loved and he never wanted to smell it ever again.

**To Be Continued---**

**A/N -** Yeah I know its short but hey, its a side fic, these damned plot bunny's wouldn't leave me alone while I was trying to sleep so I decided that sleep was not what I needed. I needed to get these ideas out of my head and onto paper so I could continue with my other fic, okay im rambling now...gomen...by the way, the son of "the woman" in this fic, he is not anyone in particular...he is just some side character. Please note that this **does** have child abuse in it...it is a story about Naruto's tragic childhood ne?


	2. The Secret Place

Disclaimer - I do not own Naruto...Never did...Never will...sigh.  
Written by- Treina and Annyong

Names-  
Mujaki - Shino's Dad Kaiwa- Shino's Mother Nidashi- Old Man (who brought Naurto the chair...)

A/N - Yeah, the names are kinda ehh...donno...lol...but I couldn't leave these three characters nameless...so I took around two hours searching and still couldn't find the perfect names, but these will do, although I detest Shino's dad's name...but I couldn't find anything better (sigh). Also, thank you so much, especially all those at Naruto Community for all the input I received on this fic! I love kids, and I love Naruto so I decided to put the two together. Im happy it turned out so well.  
Oh yeah...and in case you didnt know, Kitsune means fox in Japanese...

Aishiteru Naruto

Chapter 2- The Secret Place

Naruto - Age: three

Uzumaki Naruto once again found himself standing in the council room where all the village elders sat and held whatever business that old people had to deal with. But Naruto was at no age to understand those things, nor did he want to understand them, he was happy with the simple pleasures of life.

Right now he was scared to death, the woman who locked him in that room was yelling at the council and the council was on the verge of yelling at her in return for the state in which she brought Naruto back in. He was dirty with food from head to toe, he wore a diaper that hadn't been changed since the morning before, besides the fact that he was potty trained and last, there was a huge black and blue mark on the side of his face.

When the council asked her about this, she continued to rant about his non-stop screaming and the damage that he did to her son. Soon they found it useless arguing with the woman and dismissed her, telling her that she could keep the money for her troubles. She left happy and they were satisfied for the moment, they would pursue this at the Hokage's return. Besides, they wanted to know his opinion on the matter anyway, he was the caretaker for the child.

Soon the same kind old man once again brought Naruto a small chair to sit on at the end of the room.  
The man smiled gently, "you have no where to go?"

Naruto shook his head, trying to fight back tears.  
"Hokage-sama will return tomorrow evening," he said reassuringly.

After that, the council had a long discussion once again about what they were going to do with the boy until they were approached by an old man, he was head of the cleaning department in charge of cleaning the main, 'important' buildings.  
"Can you not find someone to take the little one in?" He asked, fully aware of what was going on.  
"Well...yeah," one council member said.

Then they engaged in more conversation that was so boring for Naruto that he dozed in his chair, somewhat happy and content that he was out of that house, and that room, the voices of the old men became tranfixating, causing Naruto to fall into a deeper sleep. Although his dreams were not happy, they consisted of the same pitch dark room where the door would not open and no matter how much he screamed no one would come until he would turn around. There, on his bed he saw a huge kitsune turning his head until the fox was looking dead pan into the face of the frightened little boy.

Naruto jolted from his sleep crying, sweaty, still covered in food and wished for nothing more at that moment that the Third was back.

The council was pleased he slept, instead of getting into things and forcing them to find him something to do. Opening his eyes blearily, he glanced around the room, taking in what was different and what was the same. The same old man who brought him the chair was standing silently next to him.

When Naruto looked up, he noticed that the man was smiling at him. Naruto blushed and looked back down, not used to getting such a real, compassionate smile.  
"Would you like to come with me to my house?" The old man asked.  
Naruto shook his head, not wanting to go anywhere unless it was with the third, he didn't want everything to happen all over, he didn't want to be locked in a room.  
"Really? Why not?" He asked, smile not fading.

Naruto stayed silent, not wanting to say anything. Don't get me wrong, he could talk a little, he just didn't like to. Besides no one ever wanted to hear the little demon child utter words anyway, you see, Kyuubi could never talk when he was...alive I guess you could say. Some people in the village actually thought that if they were to ever touch the boy, or talk to the boy you would be cursed, god only knows what would happen if he talked to you.

When the Third heard this and other rumors going around about Naruto, he decided to make a rule, a very strict rule. It was even written down and placed in the main hallway of the Hokage tower.

It reads, "To mention the name of the Kitsune to Naruto or anyone else in correspondence to the boy will he punished by banishment, or death. -Signed and Chartered, Sarutobi, The Third Hokage."

After a few minutes of silence the old man put out his hand, "come," he said in a light voice.

Naruto stared at the mans hand. Half of him was terrified, but the other half wanted nothing more then to take that old mans hand and follow him wherever he might go. Weirdly enough, Naruto wanted to trust this man, he somehow knew that this man would protect him, but he had been wrong before about these things. Naruto shook his head no, tears began to weld up in his eyes.

For some reason the old man felt bad for this child, he certainly didn't mean to frighten him and make him cry. But this man was not about to let some woman like the last one take him in till the Third got back, so he would have to take him. That was no problem for him, all his children were grown, most died in the Kyuubi incident, he was alone.

One could never tell, but he was bubbling inside, he liked this boy. If it were not for this young child the rest of his family would probably have fell victim to the Kistune. One thing was for sure, he would be indebted to Naruto forever.  
"Come, I have things I want to show you," the old man tried again, hand still extended.

A couple of seconds went by and Naruto slowly took hold of the old man's hand. He was curious to see what the old man wanted to show him, although he still wasn't sure about this old man, he kinda looked creepy. But at least he was harmless, or appeared to be.

Soon enough they were walking down the street hand in hand staying silent but smiling at each other. Naruto couldn't get enough of this old mans smile and stared at him relentlessly, until he tripped on a rock and down he went. It was as if he were going in slow motion, but couldn't do anything to stop himself. In under one second flat he was on his hands and knees all scraped up.

"...AHHHHHHHH-" Naruto screamed.  
The kind old man swooped up Naruto in his arms and placed him on his shoulders.  
"We will be there in a minute," he said while Naruto dried his eyes and tried hard not to think of the pain.  
Instead he concentrated as best he could on not falling off the old man's shoulders, even though he had a good grip on the young boy.

Shino - Age: Four

Shino sat in front of his front window waiting patiently. His father went on a very important mission to escort the Hokage. Little Shino hardly ever left the front window when his father would leave, except when his mother would drag him away to feed him and put him to bed, and even then he would cry and pitch a fit, actually it was the only time that Shino would ever act like that, he was very intellectual, especially for his age. His parents were proud of him, the only other child near his age in the village that could even compare to Shino's IQ was Nara Shikamaru.

"Shino, your father should be home early today!" Kaiwa said with a smile, holding a small message that was sent from the Hokage Tower.  
Shino said nothing, but still eagerly awaited his father, the news exited him and he tried to not even blink. Kaiwa smiled and walked back in the kitchen so she could begin to prepare dinner.

Just as Shino's mother walked out of the room, Shino spotted a little kid that he never saw before riding on a old mans shoulders. He figured the man was to old to be the blond kids dad, so he must be the grandpa. Shino watched them pass by until they were out of sight and then went back to watching for his father, trying to ignore the smell of food and his rumbling tummy.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxxoxoxoxoxoxox

Shino's father, the Hokage and a squad of four more ANBU just walked in through the Konoha gates. The Third was happy to be back in his village and Mujaki couldn't wait to get home to see his wife and little Shino. The rest of them were happy they came back alive and had their reasons to be joyful on returning to the village that was their own.

They all departed and the Third was back in the council room within five minutes of returning to the village. He quickly gave news that the alliance in mist was complete and then handed in a mission report.

"Were you able to find someone to take Naruto?" He asked, already dealing with the next priority on his list.  
"We didn't know that you would be returning so early, Nidashi just took him around fifteen minutes ago"  
"Naruto was here the whole time?" The Third asked, a bit irritated that no one would take him sooner.  
"No, there was a woman who took him...but there was an incident and she returned him this morning. We will contact Nidashi and have him bring Naruto back"  
"No need, I will go and get him. Is there anything else I am needed for"  
The council shook their heads and the Hokage left the council room, irritated that he knew very little on what's been going on with Naruto. But was relived to hear that Nidashi decided to take him in, and he might be able to get a little bit of information on the 'incident' from him.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxxoxoxoxoxoxox

Two blocks away from Shino's house, Naruto wondered why he did not wave to the little boy. Maybe it was because he looked weird, but he was learning quickly that normal people were mean and hateful. But he couldn't really base this on anything because he never knew a lot of weird people. Most were normal in his eyes, but that kid...that kid was weird. You could hardly see his face because of the clothes he wore, and the sunglasses? Naruto never before laid eyes on a child around his age that wore sunglasses.

Nidashi and Naruto were finally at their destination. It was a small little house, cozy and quiet, nothing really nearby so their were never a lot of people around. Old man Nidashi bathed and fed Naruto, then wrapped up his scrapes from his little fall on the way there.

The old man looked at the clock, "ah, its only seven! We still have time," he said with a smile.  
Naruto was exited, he wondered what the old man possibly wanted to show him.  
"But first things first," Nidashi said to himself after locking his door, that gentle smile still not fading.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxxoxoxoxoxoxox

The Hokage was irritated at the delay that he ran into, but was not upset about it. This was his village and these were his people, he would do anything for them. He was confident in Nidashi, him being an old friend, at least he was someone that the Hokage could trust. But was still worried about this 'incident' that occurred while he was away.

As he was passing the one of the many Aburame houses, Mujaki, Kaiwa and little Shino were standing on their porch.  
"Where are you going so hastily?" Shino's father yelled aloud, little Shino clinging to his leg.  
"Huh? Oh, I am on my way to retrieve Naruto," The Third explained.  
"Who?" Mujaki asked, a questioning look on his face, and then it hit him.  
"Oh that boy...would you like me accompany you Hokage-sama?" He asked, despite Shino's protests in the background.  
Mujaki bent down to Shino's level, "would you like to accompany me on this mission Shino?"

Shino's eyes lit up with excitement, although Mujaki was the only one who could tell.  
"Yes!" Shino proclaimed, punching a fist in the air and marching over to stand next to the Hokage.  
"Do not fear, I will potect you!" He said confidently to the Hokage.

The Third looked down at Shino and couldn't help but smile. Sarutobi lead the way as Shino and his father followed, Shino gleaming with joy, for he was on his very first mission and it was to protect the Hokage. No other four year old boy could be happier, except for maybe Naruto. You see, while Shino, his father and the Hokage were on their way to Nidashi's house to pick up Naruto. Naruto was out having the time of his life.

First Nidashi bought Naruto some new clothes, which Naruto picked out himself...demandingly. Then Nidashi took Naruto to the ice cream stand and bought two large chocolate cones, they then proceeded to sit on a bench in the park and watch the stars in silence. Time passed, and both their cones were gone. Nidashi took out his hankerchief and wiped the chocolate off of Naruto's face.

"I want to show you something," the old man said with that soft smile, stuffing the dirty cloth back into his robe.  
Naruto nodded, took the old mans hand and followed him to wherever the man might lead him.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxxoxoxoxoxoxox

After about an hour of waiting to see if Nidashi and Naruto were going to come back the Third decided that it would be a good idea to just come and get him in the morning.

"I was not aware that Naruto was staying with you Hokage-sama," Mujaki mentioned on their walk back to Shino's house where they would depart.  
"Yes, although I try not to make it public, a lot of people in this village hate Naruto as if he were the Kitsune himself," the third said with sadness in his eyes.  
"Well, we have plenty of room here at my house, I will have to talk to Kaiwa, but im sure the boy could stay here. Shino here doesn't have many kids to play with anyway," he suggested.

Sarutobi thought this was a good idea and informed Mujaki that he would speak to the council about it.  
"Talk to your wife tonight, we will meet tomorrow morning after I pick up Naruto," he said in a tired voice and raised his hand to bid farewell, his bed was calling to him, and he was happily accepting the call. He was not worried about Naruto, he was safe in Nidashi's hands.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxxoxoxoxoxoxox

They had been walking through the forest for around fifteen minutes, but to Naruto it felt like forever.  
"Were almost there," Nidashi informed the anxious little boy.

Naruto nodded and narrowed his eyes, getting ready to see what he had been waiting for all day.  
Getting nearer he could hear the gentle sound of running water. They went into some bushes where Naruto couldn't see anything and found it difficult to keep from getting scraped. But soon they cleared the shrubs and were out in the moonlight. Here Naruto laid eyes on what the Nidashi wanted to show him. It was beautiful, more beautiful then anything Naruto had ever laid eyes on.

Steam rose high above from the small pond in the middle of this forest, a small waterfall, small enough for a man to climb poured into the pond. Tall green trees and shrubs surrounded them making the place completely unseen, for the most part untouched. Tons of white flowers bloomed on the grass near the pond making the place smell as sweet as looked. Naruto decided that this was a magical forest and remained as quiet as he could so maybe the faeries would come out. He had seen this on a movie that the Third showed him before he left on his mission.

But soon the old man broke the silence.  
"This is a secret place. Only a few who are alive now are aware of this place and its location," Nidashi explained to the awe struck three year old.  
They both stood for a while gazing at its beauty, "I have not dared to come here after my wife passed away," he finally said.  
"But the moment I laid eyes on you I knew that I had to show you this place," he said with sadness in his voice, that graceful smile fading.

Naruto looked up at the old man, and even with the sight that lay before him, he couldn't help but feel a great sadness for this man...and he didn't know why. As Nidashi's eyes were still fixed on that place that him and his wife shared so long ago and tear ran down his old wrinkled face. Naruto frowned, why would he be sad? Was it something that he did? Naruto grabbed a hold of Nidashi's leg and hugged it tightly.

Nidashi looked down at the blond, smile once again returning, he placed a hand on the boys head.  
"Come, there is more to this place then you know," he said, taking hold of Naruto's hand.

They neared the pond and Nidashi undressed himself and Naruto then got into the pond.  
"This is a natural hot spring," Nidashi explained to the confused looking Naruto.  
Naruto's eyes beamed, he loved the hot springs! He jumped into the pond and Nidashi sat him on a small rock that was under the water so the boy wouldn't drown.

There, Naruto splashed and kicked around while Nidashi conjured up old memories. But time passed quickly and he noticed how pruned Naruto's hands and feet were and decided it was time to go home and get to sleep. He wrapped Naruto in a cloth and dried him as best he could before re-dressing the tired three year old. Nidashi picked Naruto up in his arms and began to walk out of the forest, "promise me you will never forget that place Naruto," Nidashi said in a soft voice.

Naruto smiled and nodded his head to the old man before resting his head and falling asleep on Nidashi's shoulder.  
"How can you understand so much without knowing anything?" He whispered,  
"Thank you for letting me show you Naruto."

Naruto nodded and Nidashi stopped in his tracks, startled at the sleeping Naruto's reactions, but smiled once again and continued to walk.  
'You are a strange one Naruto, but something very special,' he thought to himself as the Hokage monument came into view.  
'Just like the fourth...' The man who Nidashi would thank for all eternity, and this boy.

To Be Continued... 


	3. A Special Gift

**Disclaimer**... I do not own Naruto...Never did...Never will...sigh.  
**Written by**... Treina (Angel Crack) 

A/N... ACK! The stupid computer crashed and I lost all of my third chapter...that's why it has taken my a while to update, sorry about the wait, here is the re-written third chapter.

**Replies...**

**Archangel Rhapsody**... lol I had that exact same idea, only Naruto will be a bit older in that one...then I was thinking of making a third after that, but we will see how things go D

**ranma hibiki**... hehe yes Shino can talk, although not very well, im around three and four year olds and they can talk just fine ) and Nidashi? Don't worry about him, he is nobody suspisious...I hope.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

**Aishiteru Naruto**

**Chapter 3- Special Gift**

**Naruto - Age: three**

It was eight in the morning and Naruto was still sleeping peacefully from the night before, dreaming happy, calm things. Like the secret place that Nidashi had shown him, all the wonderful smells and tastes that he experienced the day before. Naruto couldn't be happier.

Nidashi was in the kitchen making the two of them breakfast when he heard a knock at the door. He looked at the door in suprise, it was six in the morning and he usually never got visitors. The old man turned down the stove and walked to the door, ready to make whoever it was go away before they awoke the little one up.

As he answered it, he was relived to see Sarutobi, the Third Hokage had returned from his mission un-harmed.  
"Your early, we were not expecting you to return until tomorrow evening," Nidashi said with curiosity.  
"It went better then we expected, Mist was waiting and wanting to ally with fire, so there was no disputes or long confrontations...but more importantly, where's

Naruto and is he okay? I heard an incident occurred with some woman and the council decided that they didn't want to inform me on what that might be," the Third said with much irritation. This day was going slower then he expected.

**xoxoxox**

Naruto, just awakening, stared at the ceiling for a while in attempt to wake up.

"What?" He heard someone yell from the kitchen...wait, he had heard that voice before. He got up and ran as fast as his little legs could carry him to see if his assumption was correct, heart pumping as fast as he was running.

"Oh Naruto, good morning!" The Third said with a smile.  
Naruto smiled a smile that only a happy three year old Naruto could.  
"That's odd," Nidashi said frowning, "this was where the huge black and blue bruise was on Naruto's face," he continued, squatting down to Naruto's height and placed a hand on that cheek.

"Hold on a minute," Nidashi began to unwrap the bandage from Naruto's fall the day before to see that his knee and arm had also healed up without problem.

Both Nidashi and the Third stared at Naruto in amazement but said nothing. Naruto stared at them back, smile still on his face, he was not going to be left by the Hokage and he wasn't going to be locked in any rooms, life was good.

Soon enough Nidashi remembered the food he made for the blond and sat Naruto at the table.  
"Now you eat all that," he said with a smile putting the plate down.

Of course Naruto had no problem abiding to what Nidashi said, the food the finished and wiped from the plate in under five minutes. Nidashi washed him up as they proceeded to talk about things not really related to Naruto and he was fine with that. Naruto was trying his hardest just to keep that nasty soap away from his eyes.

"Well I will go gather his things and get him changed," the old man said with a smile.

The Hokage nodded and found it quite amusing how well Nidashi and Naruto got along, "did you know the Aburame's are willing to take him in?" He yelled from the kitchen.

"Did you hear that Naruto?" Nidashi asked the blond, "that means we will get to see each other all the time.  
Naruto smiled at the thought, although he didn't hear the Third and had no idea that he was going to live at another place.

Nidashi finished dressing Naruto and grabbed his things. As they entered the main room, the Hokage literally dropped his mouth at what he saw Naruto wearing. It was orange, bright orange.

"I know what your thinking Sarutobi, but every time I would show him anything different he would start to scream," the old man said with a chuckle. He found it amusing how stubborn three year olds could be.

The Third dropped his head, sighed and smiled, "I guess it cant be helped," then extended his hand for Naruto to take, "come on Naruto, we're late already."

But Naruto shook his head, not wanting to leave. Sure he was very happy that the Third was back, but did that mean that he would have to leave Nidashi? And what about the secret place? Will he ever see it again? As this and other things ran through Naruto's mind, he frowned, he would not leave, ever. He couldn't leave the old man alone.

"Come on Naruto."

In one instant he felt himself be lifted and carried off, this did not make him happy, and he screamed as loud as he could, hitting and scratching the Hokage's face.

"Now you stop that Naruto!" Nidashi yelled, not pleased with his behavior.

This stunned Naruto, he never heard Nidashi yell before, and his smile was gone, all that remained was a very sad looking old man. Naruto stayed quiet in the Third's arms, staring at Nidashi and his saddened face.

"If your good, you can come back very soon," Nidashi said, smile returning, "be good ne?"

What was that seriousness in his voice? Why were his eyes pleading to the blond? Naruto stared quietly at Nidashi as Sarutobi bid a final farewell and thanks once again before they began their walk up the street.

"I think you will like this new place," the Hokage said to Naruto, who still had his eyes fixated on Nidashi who was standing on his porch with a smile on his face.

Then they reached the top of the road and began to go back down over the other side, Nidashi house vanished and was no longer to be seen. This made Naruto a bit mad and he demanded to be let down. The Hokage set Naruto down and watched the three year old run back down the road.

When Naruto reached the top again and caught sight of Nidashi's house at the bottom, his face lit up and at once and he began to run down the road as fast as he could, which was not a problem because of how steep the hill was. His body was faster then his legs could carry and soon enough he stumbled, slid a while and stopped, looking at his newly found scrapes, he realized that they were in the same place when he fell the day before, but it didn't hurt.

Naruto stood up and brushed himself off, when his wounds began to itch, and itch, and itch and he could do nothing but stretch.

"Naruto, are you okay?" The Third asked. He noticed that Naruto fell and decided that he wouldn't take his time in catching up to the boy.

Naruto nodded but wouldn't stop scratching his arm. Sarutobi gently took hold of the boys arm and examined it. His eyes grew wide as he watched Naruto's fresh scrapes heal at a quick pace, skin reforming and sealing up, until it looked like nothing ever happened.

"Is that better? Does it itch anymore"  
Naruto shook his head, "no," he smiled and looked at Nidashi's house.

The Hokage shook his head and picked Naruto back up, "we have to go meet some new people," he said, changing the subject, "I will take you back to see Nidashi tomorrow, im sure he has things to do," the Third smiled. He needed some other excuse for why Naruto couldn't go back at the moment and that was a good excuse as any. Shockingly it seemed to work, although Naruto pouted the whole way down the street.

**xoxoxoxox**

After watching Naruto go over the top of the road for the second time, he walked in his quiet house. As he stood alone in the silence looking around, he smiled, "first thing's first," a letter would need to be written.

While he walked to the back of his house, he tried to picture what Naruto would look like as a young adult, but he couldn't help picturing the Fourth. It saddened him to know that he wouldn't live to see Naruto grow to that age. But that's why the letter was needed, along with other things the old man had planed for the boy.  
'I wonder if he will remember me, or if it will just be a letter from a stranger...' he thought, sitting down at his large wooden desk.

As he began the letter, dipping the pen in the ink and stroking gently across the thin paper, it took an forever to just write the first line. He made sure that every letter was perfect, it would be beautiful

**xoxoxoxox**

Naruto happily sat smiling on the third's shoulders until they came to a dead stop, "this is it."

He put the blond down and took hold of the boys hand. Before they could even get to the porch the door opened and a lovely young woman with pale skin and thick long black hair stepped out onto the porch, her four year old son following. Naruto was amazed that the weird little boy standing on the porch, was the same weird little boy he had seen the day before.

Little Shino was taken back when he caught sight of the blond for the second time, but he was with a different old guy, none other then the Hokage himself. Now he was confused, who was the real grandpa?

This time Naruto didn't hesitate to wave at the boy who was hiding behind his mother's legs. Shino thought it would be impolite to not exchange the greeting, so he waved back. Naruto grinned at the boy and ran up to him, but only to stop suddenly in front of the suprised Shino and stare into the sunglasses, as if he were trying to see beyond them.

Shino was not impressed and turned his head away, not taking any joy in behind stared at, he decided that he didn't like this blond kid too much and would rather that he leave. Shino glared up at his mother who was not taking any notice in him and focusing all her attention on the Hokage. Shino crossed his arms, grown up's these days.

For five minutes Naruto stared at Shino, who was trying his hardest to ignore the blond and pretend that he was following along in his mother's conversation with the Hokage. That's when he realized what they were talking about, this weird kid was coming to live with them, in his house. Shino didn't like this idea and was about to protest when Naruto reached for his sunglasses.

Shino caught sight of the blond from the corner of his eye and was able to jump back just in time to dodge the attack. Shino glared at the blond as the two adults watched, "I HATE YOU!" Shino screamed in Naruto's direction before stomping into his house, slamming the door.

Naruto stared at the door questioningly while Kaiwa ran in the house to see what the problem was, "im so sorry about this," she said turning around, "you can come in if you like."

The Hokage nodded and took hold of Naruto's hand before leading the stunned boy into the house where Kaiwa was scolding a very mad looking Shino who seemed to be ignoring her every word. He just glared out the window, wishing that his father were here to kick out the intruder and inform his mother that he did nothing wrong. (Which in reality would not be that case, but that's how the mind of four year old Shino worked.)

Kaiwa turned to her guests, "im so sorry for his behavior, he mentioned something about Naruto trying to take his glasses, he is very protective of them and wont even let me touch them," she said with a laugh, "they were a gift from his father."

The Hokage smiled, "I noticed they looked a lot like the ones Mujaki used to wear when he was a young boy, there a bit big," he mentioned chuckling and Kaiwa joined in treasuring the moment.

The two talked for a few more hours and Naruto eventually fell asleep while Shino kept his eyes glued out the window. "If you don't mind me asking..." the Third began and Kaiwa smiled and tilted her head a bit, indicating that she wanted him to continue, "does he always stare out of the window like that?" the Hokage asked, looking in Shino's direction.

"Only when his father is not here with him," she said with a faint smile.  
"He loves his father more then I have seen anyone love someone," she also looked in Shino's direction, "its an amazing gift."

The Hokage smiled and looked down at the sleeping Naruto, "yes, a gift that not many people are given the chance to posses."

**xoxoxoxoxoxox To Be Continued xoxoxoxoxoxox**


	4. Bugs and Confusion

**Disclaimer**.. I do not own Naruto...Never did...Never will...sigh.  
**Written by**... Treina (Angel Crack)

_**Names**_  
**Mujaki **. Shino's Dad  
**Kaiwa** . Shino's Mother  
**Nidashi** . Old Man (who brought Naurto the chair...)

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

**Aishiteru Naruto**

**Chapter 4- Bugs and Confusion**

**Naruto - Age: three**

When Naruto awoke and forced his eyes open. It was dark, but after a few seconds, his eyes adjusted and he realized that he wasn't back in his old room with the Third, he was...somwhere else. Then the blond noticed heavy breathing beside him and turned his head to find a passed out Shino, sunglasses still attached to his face. This confused him. Where was the Hokage?

Then Naruto looked over to the door and noticed it was shut, he could feel his heart pump fast against his chest and flood his ears. Instantly, he was out of that bed and banging on the door, screaming at the top of his lungs. This instantly woke Shino up and in his opinion, in a very rude way. There was Naruto standing at the door like a baby, screaming his head off. Shino chuckled to himself, he's just being a baby...

"What's going on?"

He stopped screaming when he heard the worried voice and the feel of the door pressing lightly agianst him as somone opened it. Although he screaming subsided, fear was still in his eyes and tears were still running down his cheeks.

Kaiwa looked at her awake son sitting in his bed. She couldn't tell if he was mad, scared, or amused but he said nothing. She looked back at Naruto, "are you okay? What's going on"  
Naruto stared up at Kaiwa, feeling as if he did something wrong, afraid that he would get hit.

Shino began to laugh, he just couldn't hold it in any longer, "you are a baby!" he said pointing, as if he were confirming himself.

"Shino go back to sleep!" His mother yelled, not happy with his behavior.

Kaiwa led Naruto out of the room and began to close the door. Before the door shut, Naruto looked one last time into the dark room and he found a very mad Shino glaring at him. That made Naruto think of something, if Shino had no eyebrows, he would have never been able to tell that he was glaring. Now Naruto was extra curious about the mystery behind Shino's weird sunglasses.

Kaiwa turned on the kitchen light and sat Naruto at the table while she got some warm milk ready, "the Third will be back tomorrow morning to drop off your things," she said with a smile and looked at the boy. He gave her a weird look, what did she mean by 'his things?'

"Ara! I should have talked to _you_ about this first," she said to herself, thinking about what she would do if her son were in the same position, suddenly, an overwhelming sorrow fell over her and she felt bad for the child. She poured his milk and sat down, setting his cup in front on him, "would you like to stay here?"

What kind of question is that? Of course he didn't want to stay here, the Third just got back, was he leaving again? But why was she asking him? He wanted the Third, he didn't want to be here, he wanted to be back with the Third, but the Third isn't here, so why is she asking him? This frustrated Naruto, "no..." then he walked over to the window where Shino always sat and stared out the window. Then he got an idea, Nidashi was just down at the bottom of the road, if he could get out of the house, he could make it to Nidashi and not have to stay with these weird people.

But as he stared down the road, straining to see Nidashi's house, he realized how dark it really was down there. The image of the huge kitsune flashed in his mind, when he turned his head back to the kitchen, he saw Kaiwa still sitting at the table watching him.

**xoxoxoxox**

Down at the bottom of the road, Nidashi sat on his porch watching the stars, waiting for the right time. He picked at the wooden box that sat on his lap, as his nervousness grew, tonight would be the night.

Why he stayed away for all these years, he didn't know, maybe it was too painful. But he knew now, he would have to go back, back to her. The old withered man watched the clouds clear so the moon could make itself apparent. Everything in under a second turned a few shades lighter and he smiled softly, it was about time he left. But this time it would be alone and not with his little blond companion.

The walk was quiet and peaceful, not dreary or distressing, he just enjoyed the night air and moonlight. He walked slow, thinking halfway there that maybe he should turn around and go back, that maybe this wasn't such a good idea. Maybe he should just leave all together and never return to this place, if he left then he wouldn't have to think about it. Think about her.

Then he laughed, "what's wrong with you? What could you possibly be afraid of?" Coming back to his senses he mentally slapped himself, 'your an old fool for staying away, you look pathetic enough as it is, dot make it worse,' and with that in mind, he walked out of the city and into the woods, knowing that he wasn't going to run away this time. 'That, or this is all just another dream and I will wake up. Then I will tell myself once again that its impossible and that my heart could never bear to go back...but why did I take Naruto?'

Nidashi had been thinking that a lot lately, why did he take Naruto to that spring, the holder and vessel for the very thing that took away his beloved family.  
"That damn kitsune!" He cursed. But then he looked at the box in his hands, 'poor child.'

When he finally arrived at the spring, it was more beautiful then the night before, the moon was still un-clouded and for fifteen minutes the old man stood still, listening, "have you left me for good?" He asked quietly with deep sadness in his voice.

But just at that moment the wind picked up and blew through the tree's that surrounded the spring making a beautiful sweet sound that could be mistaken for singing. The wind rushed through his hair like a pair of hands weaving in and out of it, it was warm. Wind was never usually known to be warm, not this warm. He felt as if he were healing. Like he was becoming younger and he smiled the widest smile he was ever known to smile, "so you're still with me..."

For a few minutes while he was waiting, he really did think that his wife had left him forever. And as the sound of the singing wind blew around him and the spring, he couldn't remember the last time he was surrounded by bliss, pure bliss. You suddenly come to a conclusion that there could never exist anything terrible in the world that would make you un-happy. Not when this magical place existed.

The air all around him filled with the sweet sound and Nidashi took advantage of the moment and sat under a tree, leaving his mind somewhere in the past. He was lost in the singing for hours, not realizing half of the reason why he came in the first place, until something hit him, there was a wooden box on his lap. As he looked down, he remembered, he needed to bury it here for the young one.

The old man walked slowly around the spring where the soil was soft. He was examining the ground very carefully as he fully walked all the way around the spring until he was back where he started, the singing wind still accompanying him.

'Where should I hide this box?' He thought in dismay.

The wind gushed and filled the spring with the sound of harsh rustling tree's when a bunch of leaves blew off of one near by and they all landed gracefully on the soft dirt near the closest tree to the entry, then everything was silent and Nidashi knew that this place where the leaves fell would be the place where the box would be buried.

**xoxoxoxox**

After a few hours, Kaiwa was finally able to get Naruto back to sleep, but this time she didn't dare move him from the couch. Instead, she left him there and covered him with a soft blanket before returning to her own bed, "poor thing."

Sooner then expected, Kaiwa awoke to to her husband, "you have to come see this," he announced and left the room.

She grumbled and put on her robe, when she walked down the hallway and into the main room. All the morning grumpy-ness left her when the sight of Shino befell her.

Little Shino was standing right in front of the couch staring at the sleeping Naruto, why was he sleeping in here on the couch? He lived in this house his whole life and he never got to sleep in the main room. And it seemed the blond was sleeping very well, he didn't move an inch, even with all the activity going on in the room. After about fifteen minutes of staring at the weird boy Shino began to think that maybe Naruto was dead.

Kaiwa watched her son run into his room and bring out his bat, as she watched him walk back over to the blond she began to get nervous, "what are you doing hun?" but was startled to see that Shino only used it to poke to boy, "let him slee-"

Naruto opened his eyes only to see the weird little boy with the sunglasses standing over him, holding a bat. Naruto frowned at Shino and Shino just stared, half relived that the stranger wasn't dead.

"You cant sleep in here!" He said suddenly.  
"Come on Shino...Naruo?" Kaiwa asked with her hand extended.

Naruto rolled off the couch, followed Shino and his mother and found himself in the bathroom where Kaiwa began to fill the bath. Naruto's eyes glittered with excitement and Shino glared knowing what was coming. Kaiwa striped the two down and placed them in the tub, "I have to go start breakfast...play nice," he looked at Shino knowing how he was in the bath.

Naruto automatically began splashing around while Shino just sat arms crossed and when Naruto's splashing hit Shino's sunglasses it was an all out war. But five minutes into the water war Naruto looked up at Shino with a grin, what he saw made his grin instantly change into a horrified look. Every inch of Shino's body that wasn't in the water was covered in bugs. Little black ones.

In the Kitchen, Kaiwa was just beginning to put breakfast on the stove when she heard a bloodcurdling scream coming from the bathroom and down the hall. Soon enough Naruto was running to her across the kitchen floor, dripping wet and stark necked. Once again he had that terrified look on his face, but this time it was a bit different, it was more full of surprise.

"What happened now"  
"Bugs!" Naruto screamed, pointing to the hall.

A second after that and Shino's little head was poking into the kitchen, curious as to what was going on, one minute the blond kid is splashing around and then the next, he screams at the top of his lungs and fly's out the bathroom door leaving Shino startled, confused and wet. All wet including the sunglasses. Shino decided he wouldn't even try to talk to the blond, he would get dressed, eat breakfast and then wait for his father to get home...if he even leaves today, if not then he would be forced to play with that stranger.

Wait! Then Shino remembered his mother saying that the Hokage will be back today, maybe that means he will take the weird intruder away...before he gets any bright ideas...he already didn't like the idea of sharing a room and that hasn't even presented itself yet. He knew one thing, waking up at three in the morning every night to watch a baby scream was not his idea of a happy family.

Kaiwa giggled when she heard what the problem was and she knew that this issue would arise, but she also knew that explaining it to the blond would do no good and might even freak him out more. So she would have to wait till he got older, until then he would never understand. She dressed Naruto in some of Shino's old clothes and went to find Shino, but she found that Shino was already dressed and in her bedroom helping his father get ready, so she went back to the kitchen.

Naruto followed the nice woman down the hall and into the kitchen which smelled really nice, the smell was coming from the pot in the stove and he wondered what it could be. As he walked to the stove and reached for the pot, Kaiwa screamed, "no!" She grabbed him and began to carry him back down the hall, "you could have hurt yourself," she said, relived that she grabbed him in time.

She placed Naruto down in her son's room and showed him the toy box, "you stay here and play until its time to eat," she said with a smile.  
"Shino! Come play with Naurto!" She yelled down the hall, knowing that he could hear her.

Shino sat on his parents bed and helped his father put on his coat, "Im only going to be gone for a few hours, then im going to take your mother out, the Third is going to find someone to watch you until we get back," his father said with a smile and pat his son on the head, "now go play with Naruto like your mother said"  
Shino frowned, "I don't want to," he said stubbornly and crossed his arms.  
"Well then take it up with your mother," he suggested and winked.  
Shino put on his best pouting face and left the room.

Walking into his room he was amazed at what he saw. His toy box was open but all his toys were still in it and Naruto was sitting quietly on his bed staring at him.  
"What are you doing?" Shino asked, finding it suspicious.  
Naruto said nothing and continued to stare at him.

Shino walked over to his toy box, pulled out a few toys and sat down, "come over here, you can play with this one," he said reaching the toy out to the blond.  
Naruto walked up and looked at the rubber toy in Shino's hand.  
"Its a bug," Naruto pointed out, hesitant to take the rubber toy.  
"Its a toy," Shino corrected, "this is a bug," and he raised his hand to show the blond the little black bug that sat on his hand.

Naruto backed away and then took one step closer, he was amazed at how little the bug was, it didn't look anything like what he saw in the bath, it was much cuter.  
He then looked at the rubber toy, "its a bug," he repeated.  
Shino didn't know whether he was talking about the toy, or the little friend that was sitting on his hand.

After a while of sitting there staring at each other, Shino decided that this was getting a little boring so he figured maybe outside would be more exiting, maybe he could even find a few bugs to collect and teach Naruto to catch them without doing them harm. So he stood up and walked out of the room, but when he turned his head around, Naruto wasn't there.

"Come on!" He said, poking his head back into the room.  
Naruto looked down at the rubber bug that sat on the floor and then at Shino, "Mm!" Naruto responded with a smile and hopped up to follow the weird bug boy.  
They walked though the kitchen where Shino's mom was still cooking breakfast and his father was sitting at the table talking with her, "are you going out?" Shino's dad asked the two boys that were passing though. Shino nodded and opened the sliding wood door.  
"You watch him now," he said looking at Naruto, "make sure he stays out of trouble," he instructed Naruto, who smiled at him and nodded.

When Naruto entered the yard he was almost as amazed as when Nidashi showed him the secret place. It was the biggest yard he had ever seen, (he had not been in many placed in Konoha.) The grass was a dark wet looking green with little purple flowers shooting themselves up everywhere. The yard was surrounded by trees which gave nice privacy and a lot of nice shade, most of the trees were that same green, but there were others that were a bright yellow, making themselves stand out. He decided that these were his favorite trees and spent fifteen minutes just staring at them while Shino went and looked for bugs.

"Time to come in!" They heard Kaiwa yell from the house and they both went back, ready to fill their empty stomachs with breakfast.  
Both Naruto and Shino inhaled the food that was placed in front of them instantly and then demanded more. After their second helpings, Shino's father said good-bye to his wife and son, "I will be back in a few hours," he said, kissing his wife on the cheek.

The second that Mujaki was out the door, Shino was at the window awaiting his return and Naruto decided he would join in on whatever it was that he was doing. Shino's eyes were kept glued to the window and Naruto's eyes were glued on Shino, it was very cute to watch and Kaiwa decided she had to have some pictures. So she ran into her room, grabbed the camera and was back in the main room before Naruto and Shino even knew she was gone.

_**SNAP FLASH**_

The two boys whirled their heads around and Shino glared in the direction of the camera, "stop it," he said before turning his concentration back to the window. Naruto however was fascinated with whatever just occurred and walked to Kaiwa staring at the strange black box she held in her hands. It was a weird looking box and he somehow found the strange sensation to touch it.

Naruto reached for the camera and Kaiwa put it up to her face, pushed a button on the top of it and then looked at it weird. Naruto made the same face she did until she brought her attention back to him, "Im out of film!" she exclaimed and ran in her bedroom. Naruto went back with Shino and continued watching for whatever it was they were watching for.

Not soon after Naruto decided that this was getting boring that Kaiwa came back out into the main room dressed like she was going out. She held two coats in her hands, "lets go you two."

They both didn't pay much attention to her, they were off in their own little world somewhere, blocked off from the rest of the world. Sometimes Kaiwa would find this fascinating and just sit and watch her son do it. But they had no time, if they wanted to get back by the time her husband would return they would have to leave now.

"Shino! Lets go see dad!" she said in an enthusiastic voice, raising one of the coats that was held in her hand.

Shino's jumped off the couch in excitement which startled Naruto out of his little dream as well. When he noticed that Shino was putting on his coat, he realized that they were going somewhere. He jumped off the couch with the same amount of excitement that Shino had. He ran over to Kaiwa and smiled.

After getting them both in coats and shoes, they left the house, and Naruto couldn't wait to find out where they were headed. He looked behind him and down the road, remembering that Nidashi lived down there he stopped walking and stared at the road. Kaiwa turned to see why Naruto was lagging behind and noticed that he was facing the opposite way.

"Come on hun," she said and took hold of his hand.  
"Go!" Shino yelled with his finger pointed in their direction, "go, go, GO"  
Shino skipped and jumped in the front, leading the way. He knew these roads well, this was the way they came all the time to get to the store. Then on the way home they would spot Mujaki. Shino would run and jump into his arms while Kaiwa smiled at the sight of her two boys. This time was no different.

After stopping in the store to buy more film and drop off the used to get developed, they began to walk home. On their way they met Mujaki during one of his rounds. As soon as Shino caught a glimpse of his father, he laughed and screamed out while running as fast as he could. Naruto decided this would be fun and joined in.

Naruto ran and ran, he laughed and smiled, he screamed just as Shino. All the way until they reached Shino's father they both laughed. Shino dove into his fathers arms and Naruto stood unsure, but smiling at the least. Mujaki ruffled Shino's hair and asked how his morning was going. He then turned his attention to the smiling blond. "And how about you?" He said with a smile, Naruto grinned at the man but soon noticed that he was not being paid attention.

Shino and his father laughed as he cracked small jokes or talked some about his last round and how much he couldn't stop thinking of his little Shino. Naruto found this strange behavior, the Third or Nidashi, no one ever talked to him or treated him like that. There was something there that he had never seen before, something that sparked a fire, a longing, a desire to be treated in the same fashion. The blond turned his head to the left when he heard the sound of faint laughter that did not belong to Shino or his father. But it was a child's laughter and when he waited with his fixated on the alleyway to the left, he realized what the laughing was.

There was a small boy around his age with thick black hair, Naruto found it funny how it stuck up in the back and wondered if it was possible, then he looked at Shino and his father. Yes it has to be possible. The little boy with the thick black hair was sitting on the shoulders of what seemed like an older version of him. Only his hair didn't stick out in the back like the little boy.

As the two boys in raven hair walked by Naruto met eye to eye contact with the little boy. Immediately, the boy stuck his tongue out at the blond. And Naruto didn't know why but he had the strong urge to do the same so he did. There three year old Naruto stood with his tongue sticking out of his mouth.  
"Stop that Naruto!" Kaiwa ordered, not at all approving of the rude gesture. Even Shino knew that you never stuck your tongue out in his mother's presence.

Naruto looked at Kaiwa with a confused look on his face, what did he do?  
"Keep your tongue in your mouth!" She said stalking up the the boy, "I don't ever want to see that. Hanging your tongue out of your mouth is not how you say hello," she added picking him up.  
"Shino! We have to go, we still need to stop at the Hokage tower," she said, looking at her husband.

Mujaki set his son down and instructed him to do as his mother says. Shino nodded considering it was coming from his father and walked over to Kaiwa and took hold of her hand. "I will see you in a few hours," she said with a tired smile to her love.  
"Aa," he said simply and returned to make his rounds.

Naruto was in utter shock and could feel the tears beginning to build. He couldn't understand why she would get so mad, didn't she see the other boy stick his tongue out as well? Actually there were a lot of things he didn't understand and it only frustrated him more to know that there is yet another thing added to the list of things that baffle him. What scares him is that most of the things that he doesn't understand scare the hell out of him and there is nothing more terrifying then something that your scared of and have no clue what it is.

To be continued...

**xoxoxoxox**

**A/N**: Awww poor Naruto, even now before things become tragic I pity him... cry and DON'T WORRY, there will be a lot more Naruto characters coming in and out of the story, this is not a fic about Shino and Naruto becoming friends, that is just a part of it. )


	5. Memories and a Butterfly

**Disclaimer**... I do not own Naruto...Never did...Never will...sigh.  
**Written by**... Treina (Angel Crack)

**Names**.  
Mujaki . Shino's Dad  
Kaiwa . Shino's Mother  
Nidashi . Old Man (who brought Naurto the chair...)

**xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox**

**Aishiteru Naruto**

**Chapter 5- Memories and a Butterfly**

**Naruto - Age: three**

The moment they reached the Hokage Tower, all of Naruto's terrible thoughts had disappeared and the only thing he could think about was Nidashi. The Third promised him that he would take him today and see the old man. Naruto smiled as they stepped into the building, recognizing the smell instantly.

Shino on the other hand was upset, why is it that the blond gets to be carried? Why is it that when this kid wakes up and begins screaming in the middle of the night that he gets extra attention? He wasn't even a part of the family, he didn't even live in the same house. Then it struck him once again, what if that little cry baby ends up moving in? What if he wakes up the house every night? What if he began to slowly steal his mother away? Well he wouldn't have it and he would die before he would allow that kid to take his mom from him.

**xoxoxoxoxoxox**

What surprised Kaiwa the most was the stares she got from the people in the building, as if they couldn't believe what they were seeing. She frowned but kept walking, making sure to not pay any attention to them. She knew why they were staring, they couldn't believe that there was a woman willing to take care of the Kyuubi holder. What a bunch of rubbish, he was a three year old little boy, so far he hasn't caused any harm. He was so much more quiet and remorse, unlike her son. But then she couldn't really compare, Shino is her son and she has been with him since he was conceived. Naruto is a child that she has not spent more then 24 hours with, no matter how close Kaiwa and Naruto may get, they will never be mother and son.

She smiled gently at the two boys and set Naruto down next to Shino.  
"Go sit over there for a few minutes," she said pointing to some benches that were lined against the wall, "I will be right back."

Kaiwa entered the room while the two boys did as they were told and sat down, both trying their best to ignore one another. Naruto was in a happy mood, he would get to see the Third so he need not be distracted by some weird little bug boy.

Shino would just die if Naruto came to live with them, but what could he do? If his mom and dad decided on it, then the only option left is to kick the blond out when no one was looking. But god only knows how much trouble he would get into, if the worse happened his mother would start crying. Shino winced at the thought. Wait, who was he kidding? Like she would cry for him. Shino looked next to him to see a smiling Naruto whose eyes were wandering around the room apparently searching for something in great anticipation. Shino also began to search around the room with his eyes for whatever Naruto was looking for.

Soon enough they both saw what they were looking for when the same door that Kaiwa walked through, opened. Kaiwa came out with a smile on her face when she noticed that the two boys did as she told, they were both sitting on the bench she pointed to.

A huge grin appeared on Naruto's face when noticed who was standing by Shino's mother. Nidashi was here to greet his friend, and Naruto found himself doing the same thing Shino did when he saw his father. Naruto ran up as fast as he could, but he stopped there, he couldn't find the courage to jump into the old mans' arms when he got there, he stood and looked into the old mans eyes with anticipation.

Nidashi saw the look in Naruto's eyes and knew what he wanted, what he had been waiting for, he smiled.

"Who's your little friend here?" Nidashi asked and looked at the boy who was still sitting on the bench staring in their direction. Now Shino was really confused, that old man had to be the same man that he saw the blond with yesterday when they were passing his house. Maybe it really was this kids' grandfather.  
"That's little Shino, come here hun," she said gesturing to her son, he just sat there and looked at her as if she said nothing. Kaiwa sighed, "he is his fathers son," and then giggled. She walked over to Shino and crouched down to his level, "first we are going to go get Naruto's things and then this nice man is going to watch you while your father and I go out," she instructed, turning her head to Nidashi.

He knew it, he knew that they would decide to let that little boy live with them...he didn't know how he knew, he just knew it.

Shino frowned and jerked his head to the side, not wanting to look at the decision maker, "It will be okay," she said with a smile, "Nidashi is a nice man"  
Shino still said nothing and refused to look at her.  
"Should we get going?" Nidashi asked, "I hear the Hokage has an appointment with the academy in less then an hour, he's waiting for you in his office," he said softly, not sure if he should interrupt this little parent child chat.  
"Hai," she replied and picked Shino up, not in the mood to play his little games.

But to Shino this was no game and he was not happy that no one was taking him seriously, what did they expect him to do? Sit around and watch this little kid come in and take his home from him? Shino didn't protest being picked up, but he still looked the other direction, refusing to look at any of them until they reached the Hokage's office. Shino demanded to be let down, he didn't want to give the impression that he was still a baby that needed to be carried, especially when he just completed his first mission just a few days ago.

When they entered, the Hokage sat waiting for them, he immediately got up and greeted them all. Now Naruto was in heaven, Nidashi, the Hokage and this nice woman were all here and the weird bug boy even seemed to forget all about being upset. Naruto wasn't too sure about why he was mad, but it was making him uneasy anyway and he was glad when Shino seemed to lighten up.

"So how was he?" The Third asked, hoping that he wouldn't hear what a little brat the boy was and how he is just like the demon the was sealed into him. But he was happy when the most serious thing she talked about was related to bugs. Kaiwa, on her part failed to mention the screaming at three in the morning, she figured that it had to do with the shock of waking up at a strange house in the dark with your guardian no where in sight. She quickly decided that if it should happen again, she would inform the Hokage. Otherwise, she didn't feel like it needed to be brought up.

While the Third and Kaiwa were chatting away, and Shino was pretending to listen and understand every word, Nidahsi bent down behind Naruto and whispered in his ear, "should we should your friend the secret place?" He asked, pointing to Shino.  
Naruto frowned and shook his head, that was not the place for other people, it was his secret place and if everyone knew about it then it wouldn't be secret, and he definitely couldn't trust this kid with the sunglasses, what other reason would a person have to cover their eyes other then the fact that they are suspicious.

Shino noticed that the old man was pointing at him and whispering something in the blonde's ear, no doubly about him. But Shino didn't care, he was much too 'interested' in what the Third had to say.  
"Oh, well he will be with us all day so, if you don't want him to come then we cant go today," Nidashi whispered, knowing that would make the blond give in and let his 'friend' come. Well, if they were not friends, they would be soon. Nidashi smiled at the thought, but then maybe decided he was butting his nose where it shouldn't belong.

Naruto's eyes widened and he whipped his head around to look Nidashi in the eyes as if he were pleading that what he said wasn't true. "Well, I know I want to go to the secret place, what about you?" As he finished his sentence he stood up tall and began to balance himself on his heels. Naruto nodded his head in a wild manor and both Naruto and Nidashi found that all talking in the room had stopped and all attention was on them.

"What are you talking about?" Kaiwa asked with a playful smile, and Nidashi grinned, "oh, we were just talking about what we were going to do today," he said and then looked at Naruto, "right Naruto"  
Naruto nodded and the other three in the room gave the two a suspicious look, knowing they were up to something. But both the Third and Kaiwa knew whatever it was it had to be good, Nidashi was incapable of doing any harm.

One thing disturbed Naruto since they entered the room, everything was the same, everything but three bags sitting in the corner nearby. He felt like these bags were staring at him, like they had invisible eyes, Naruto looked at Shino. Shino noticed these bags as well and at the moment he was staring at them, knowing who they belonged to. For a while he seemed curious, what was in the bags? What kind of toys did he have? Before he knew what he was doing, Shino was trying to open one of the three bags to see what was inside.

The Hokage began to laugh, "I guess we're getting a little impatient, and im sure the academy is as well," he walked them all down to the tower gates where he bid farewell. Nidashi was happy to carry the three small bags while Kaiwa carried Shino.

Naruto walked next to Nidashi, staring at the bags that were tucked under his arm. Somehow he knew that those were his things, but what he didn't understand was why Nidashi was carrying them. Was the third leaving again, but for a longer time? Whatever the case was, he was sure it wasn't good. He thought that maybe after what seemed like forever he would get to sleep in his own bed. (little cot that is located in the same room as the Third)

After a while they finally reached the Aburame's main street and Shino's house. Nidashi dropped off Naruto's things.  
"You be good for Nidashi," he told Shino and then kissed him on the forehead.  
She turned to Nidashi, "I will come pick them up tonight...but Im not sure I know how long we will be"  
"Don't worry, im sure they'll be fine," he said in a re-assuring tone.

Kaiwa nodded and waved to the three boys ready to start her night, but she wasn't as excited as she knew she should be. It was just bad timing that's all, a day after they decide to let Uzumaki stay with them? Why did it have to be tonight? Why couldn't it have been scheduled for last week? Why wasn't this done and over with? She didn't understand why she had to prove herself anyway, they were happy, her husband was happy and Shino was growing into a fine Aburame. Then she understood, everything was on the line tonight, her entire life, she could loose it all.

While entering her house and home, thinking these horrible thoughts, Mukaji came up from behind and held her, "welcome home," he whispered into her ear and in an instant, all of her thoughts disappeared and it was as if this night were any other, "you should get ready, we shouldn't be late..." he trailed off when he felt her go stiff.

"I don't know...Im not feeling to well," she was ultimately telling the truth, her stomach twisted and turned, everything around her was spinning. It was like that first day, that first moment.  
"I don't think that the elders care...how you feel," he said it feeling the steak that he drove into his own wife's heart, he tightened his grip on her shoulders, afraid of the same thing that was going through her mind, he might loose his wife.  
"Yes...I know," she had said the words so softly that she wasn't even sure if he heard them.

**xoxoxoxoxoxox**

Naruto automatically began to walk towards the spring, he knew the exact paths to take, so Nidashi decided to follow him and see if he could get there without any help. Meanwhile, a few feet back, he told Shino that they were going to a secret place and that no one must know about it. Shino didn't like the idea of keeping something from his dad, but he never agreed to keep it a secret anyway. If it was bad, then his duty would be to tell his dad, or the Hokage better yet. Now he was beginning to get suspicious and watched very carefully, trying to memorize the way to this secret place.

But he was never good with directions and was always getting lost, not that he cared much, his mother usually found him sooner or later with tears in her eyes, probably due to worry. Shino would always find something to do, the village of Konoha was a wonderful place and there was usually always something interesting to look at or play with, but now they were in the forest where everything looked the same.

Soon they entered the forest and Naruto still seemed to know where he was going. Nidashi figured that the boy didn't even realize that he was letting him lead the way. He sure was an amazing kid, although he would probably never see it, just like he doesn't know how lucky he is to be taken in by the Aburame clan. Nidashi knew these people well, he lived at the end of their road for over twenty years and grew fond of their quiet, peaceful way of life. It was a wonderful, healthy environment for the blond to be in.

Not five minutes into the walk, they came to what looked like a dead end, the bushes and trees blocked their path and Shino frowned, did they get lost? Naruto turned around, eyes sparkling with excitement, he looked at Nidashi. Nidashi nodded and Naruto looked at Shino, at once Naruto walked up, grabbed the boys hand and began dragging Shino through the bushes through until their feel stepped in soft lush grass.

**xoxoxoxoxoxox**

In the main room, Mujaki sat on the arm of their couch early awaiting his wife. He was dressed in a long black coat with with his nice uniform on under it. His heart rate quickened as he waited for the sight of his beloved, staring down the hallway expecting at any moment for the door to open when it did and at that moment his heart skipped.

After staring in the mirror for a long while, reminding herself that she could do this, she finally got up the courage to leave her room, the feeling in her stomach getting worse as she turned the knob. This night was too much like the first night, she remembered it like it was yesterday and five years never passed, as if this night was living itself over. What if she would have to do this again?

As she entered the moonlight in the main room, her husband was awed by her beauty. He never remember seeing her when she looked so angelic, her long black hair flowing freely over her shoulders and lingering down her back, the pure while kimono, that kimono that he had not laid eyes upon since that first night that he laid eyes on her. His heat rang in his ears and all he could do was remember that night.

He had waited ten years to meet the wife that was to be his, for ten years he thought every night about how close she was to him, yet so far away. He remembered searching for her one night when the clan had retired and all was asleep, but he didn't even get to the first estate before he was caught by one of the elders, she said what they always say when he would wonder out loud what kind of girl she would be, or what she might look like, "She's not for you until your 20th year." All they ever told him about her was her name, Kaiwa.

Kaiwa had also waited ten years to meet the man who would be her husband, the man who would give her a life and home. But she did much more during those ten years. Her parents died as shinobi in some mission when she was ten, they were both jounin so the Third was not able to give her a detailed explanation of how or why they died.

During that time the Aburame clan was looking for young women who were pure, beautiful and good enough for brides to carry Aburame children. This was not uncommon among clans. All except the Hyuuga clan who did not marry out of the family, they believed that having an outsider carry one of their children was not pure and would falter the abilities that flowed through the Hyuuga bloodline.

Kaiwa considered herself lucky that her mother was so beautiful, the Aburame clan saw the ten year old's beauty and decided that she would be a perfect bride. They took her in and taught her to be perfect for him, the man who now stood before her and held her in his eyes. He remembered the morning of his twentieth birthday. He remembered being woken eerily in the morning to be groomed all day until he was 'presentable' in the elders eyes, she had also gone through the same thing and right before the sun set, they were to be wed they would lay eyes on each other for the first time.

For a while that morning Mujaki refused to see her, in the past month, he had grown to hate the woman who he would never know about and now they want him to marry her? All he knew was her name, and already he was sick of it. He knew that expectations were a bad thing and the image that he built up in his mind of her, he knew it had to be wrong, then he would be disappointed and hurt the poor woman. It was a bad idea and he couldn't tell the elders enough that he was not going to be wed that night. That they couldn't make him love this stranger that he had never met.

But that morning Kaiwa couldn't be more exited, after waiting ten years, her life was about to be handed to her. There she stood in the Aburame yards at sundown awaiting her hour. And Mujaki was dragged in front of her, not daring to look. She smiled a sweet smile and took hold of his hand, understanding his fear and worry. As her soft hands held his, his eyes shifted to meet hers and he was met with the most beautiful soft green eyes that filled him with warmth and he was set at ease.

Kaiwa noticed the ease that was set into him and was put to ease herself. More then half of her was expecting him to reject and deny her, but the elders would always tell her otherwise. But the sunglasses, she wished more then anything at that moment to be able to look into his eyes and he was doing with her, but they were blocked, nothing but black glass to separate her from him.

At once the ceremony began and the two were wed, that night was the most awkward night that the two had ever spent together...exept for this night. There was his beloved standing in front of him with that same glow about her, only this time she was trembling. She knew that the council would be a hundred times harder to please then her husband.

"You have been a great mother, and a wife...they know that Kaiwa, they know how much I love you," he suddenly grabbed her and held her as if he would never see her again, "I promise we will never part," but he was uncertain of his words, would they allow him to leave? Would he become a missing nin that would be hunted for the rest of his life? Could he make that choice? But what else could he say?

She smiled knowing his lie, he could never leave with her or go anywhere. It was strange, people always thought of her as the prisoner, but she knew the truth to that lie as well, he was the prisoner and she would never have the power to set him free. But she also knew this day would come and there was nothing that would provoke or prolong it, so she would have to do what she's always done, move forward.

**xoxoxoxoxoxox**

Naruto and Shino ran around and around the spring so many times that Nidashi wondered how they did it, just watching them made him tired and soon enough Naruto was out like a light. But Shino on the other hand was wide awake and decided to make himself useful by checking out all the different bugs that lived in the area, most of them he had never seen before and wished that his father was there to teach him further on how to interact with them. One of his fondest memories was just a few weeks before when his father got him to understand a little of what a ladybug was gossiping about in their garden. He remembered his father saying that the ladybugs are good for beginners because they talk forever about the simplest of things, unlike spiders who are wise and talk in riddles. Shino didn't know what riddles were but when he spotted a spider in his kitchen just the day after, he tried to talk to it and understand. But the spider almost looked to be laughing at him, pointing one of its little legs at him. (just like he did with Naruto when the blond was crying)

Nidashi watched Shino intently, he found it amazing at what Shino was learning at such a young age, he was trying to train himself to talk to the bugs. Did they all learn at such a young age? No one really knew much about the Aburame clan because they were so quiet and always kept to themselves, not getting involved in the politics that ran through Konoha. Whether they taught all their kids at a young age, or Shino was a genius, either way he found it extremely interesting to watch.

While Shino was still 'talking' to bugs, Naruto woke up and watched for a second before becoming interesting himself and walked over to him. At the moment, Shino was talking to a butterfly and Naruto gazed at its colorful wings amazed by its beauty.  
"Hi," Shino said to the butterfly.  
"Hi," Naruto repeated, but talking to the butterfly as well.  
"Hi!" Shino repeated but with a giggle.

Naruto laughed but was cut short when the butterfly did something.

It flew up and around them, but landed on the blonde's head, its blue wings clashing with the bright yellow hair. Both boys didn't dare move but stood as if time itself had stopped, even Nidashi held his breath. Then the butterfly flew off, leaving two very happy boys laughing behind.

_**xoxoxoxox To be continued xoxoxoxoxox**_

**A/N** Thank you for reading! Im happy I was able to get this one up pretty quick...I hope it doesn't jump around too much, but I think end of this chapter turned out well... although the beginning kinda dragged on (in my opinion) anyway...thank you for all the wonderful reveiws, I love you all!

**Review Replys**

**Shadow-Sensei:** I assure you that this will NOT turn Yaoi. I will be having two other fics that branch off of this one in the future and I can assure you that there will be no yaoi in those either )

**omnikaze:** yes there are some things that Shino does that's a bit ooc but you have to keep in mind that he is a innocent child. In this fic he wasn't just born stoic and silent, but that's all Im going to say about that for now...I have no idea why he and his dad wears sunglasses in the anime, no one (that I know of) knows the reason or what color his eyes are. Ive read/heard some pretty cool guesses on it. But Shino has his own reasons to wear the sunglasses in this fic...as for the dad...I have no idea lol

**foop:** sorry about that, I hope this chapter helps somewhat, but to answer one of your questions head on, no she is not ninja, she stays at home with Shino...

**Samurai Demon-God Sekikage:** Wow where do I start lol? Yes I remember very well how I was as a child...and I remember being in terrified situations (like when he was in the dark room and saw the fox.) At this point all he could think about was leaving the room. And until this point in his life he has been very well protected (by the Third) so he doesn't know about assassination attempts and how every person in the village hates him, he's three and lives in his own little world...I was very surprised myself about how many people cuddle him and are nice...but things must go up in order to fall down. Kaiwa is has very strong mother instinct and Nidashi is an old man...I cant say anymore about that P Yes as a three year old I knew when to stop, but most of the times I didn't. How far could I go without my mom coming in a swatting me on the behind? I cried alot as a child...almost about anything (and all my little sisters did as well) I make Naruto kind of a cry baby cause im trying to keep it as cannon as possible, do you remember when Kakashi was talking to Inari in mist...a few episodes before Haku dies? How Kakashi tells Inrai about Naruto and how at 12 years old he's probably tired of crying? ) Im sure its confusing all of you how both Shino and Naruto are not like themselves. As I have told Omnikaze, Shino was not born stoic and quiet and Naruto was not born knowing that the world hates him. Yes most of these are first time experiences (he's lived and been taken well care of by the Third until now) When he got slapped, that was his first time. When he 'plays' with Shino its his first time. When Kaiwa holds him, its his first time being held by a woman (besides his mother right before she dies) Most of these are first experiences, but they are just the small ones, even they are important as well. Im not sure what your referring to when you talk about Naruto getting scared...do you mean in general? Well, Naruto has kinda been hid from the outside world until now and alot of things are going to scare him, as well as make him curious, but the bugs, that would scare me and any three year old child, your in the bathtub splashing around one minute and then the next there's like 500 bugs all over the person in the bath lol I remember my little sister used to love bathes until she saw one bug (only one)...she gave us such a hard time about taking bathes for about three years after that...it scared her bad...and it was just one bug lol I remember being a little older and when I got into terrifying situations I couldn't cry, I could only listen to the beat of my heart and tell myself that I was wrong, that there was nothing to be scared of, that I was lying to myself...alot of times I would try and go to sleep. Most times I went into a sort of panic, (not the best thing to do in those situations) Anyway im done with my ramblings, I hope it clarified some things for you...I cant really get any more deeper then I have already got...I fear of giving anything away...if I haven't already. p One thing, I will try and make Naruto a bit more curious from now on.


	6. Thirty Minutes

**Disclaimer...** I do not own Naruto...Never did...Never will...sigh.  
**Written by..**. Treina (Angel Crack) 

**Names.**  
Mujaki . Shino's Dad  
Kaiwa . Shino's Mother  
Nidashi . Old Man (who brought Naurto the chair...)

**xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox**

**Aishiteru Naruto**

**Chapter 6- Thirty Minutes**

**Naruto - Age: three**

A beautiful butterfly with its blue wings had just finished making two little boys feel very alive and grateful for the world they live in, so naturally, he felt pretty alive and grateful as well. But then he saw the look on Kaiwa's face as the woman and her husband neared the Aburame temple. Wait! He was on sacred ground, he was in the presence of an Aburame!

As the young, graceful butterfly flew up and around the couple, the two stopped and the butterfly made a bold move, the most bold move he would ever make. He landed on the Aburame's shoulder and instantly fell in bliss. There was a sweet smell about the man and he instantly became addicted, but the strangest thing was he could swear that he had smelled this sweet aroma before. It was like deja'vu for a butterfly.

The Aburame felt the affection emanating off the young butterfly and was pleased, here was this beautiful young butterfly and it found him, and at a perfect time. Mujaki turned his head and whispered very faintly and slowly an inaudible song and Kaiwa wondered what they were talking about. But soon after, the butterfly flew off his shoulder and onto his wife. He sat on her shoulder and showed off his wings, he noted that the same smell was emanating off of her but it was more faint, which made it a little more bearable and exited him in a way.

**xoxoxoxoxoxox**

The sun had long gone down and Nidashi thought it was about time to be getting back, of course he ended up dragging the two away kicking and screaming but didn't mind, he knew if they were making this much of a fuss about it, then they must love that place just as much as he did. He knew that if that was the case, it would truly be kept a secret.

He had another reason why he wanted to get back. He wasnt quite sure what time Kaiwa would be coming to picking the two up and the last thing he wanted was to keep her waiting. Knowing mothers, if he were to keep her waiting, she would no doubt worry, he smiled at the memory of his beloved wife when she would get upset with worry over her children, but that was the healthy kind of worry and it was a good thing, none the less a mother should never have to worry. And he was relived when they returned that she was indeed not there to pick the two up, which was also a good thing, this way he would have time to feed them.

**xoxoxoxoxoxox**

All the way to the temple, the butterfly sat on Kaiwa's shoulder, enjoying her presence just as much as she was enjoying his. She was happy that if she would have to leave tonight, she would not be leaving entirely by herself. But as they entered the temple, Kaiwa's heart sank and she didn't know if she would be able to make it.

Mujaki took hold of her hand and squeezed it tightly, letting her know he would never let it go. It comforted her to an extent, but weirdly, not as much as the butterfly. She looked down to watch its wings move slowly up and down until they were called, "Mujaki and Kaiwa Aburame..." came a very old sounding voice from behind some closed red doors and her heart skipped a beat as the doors opened.

Slowly, ever so slowly they walked through the doors, time moved so slow, she thought, that maybe she had entered some sort of genjutsu, but she looked down at the butterfly and noticed he was still moving his wings in the same, slow, up and down rhythm. But as soon as the first word was said, time seemed to speed back up and soon they were talking about her parenting skills.

"We hear that Shino is quite the little genius," said a very old, broken looking man.  
"Hai," she answered simply.  
"What do you both do during the day when his father is not present?"

Kaiwa looked up at her husband with worry flooded in her eyes, how could she tell them? What would they say? What would he say? She knew that with this one question everything was going to be over. Her life was over.  
"He"  
"Yes?" The old man asked, becoming inpatient.  
"We don't really do anything...he sits in front of the window until Mujaki returns"  
She looked up at him a second time, wondering if maybe she should have lied, but her husband nodded with no expression. Actually, this was the first he heard of it and was surpassed, if not flattered.

Kaiwa was puzzled by the nod, she knew that he didn't know, she made it a point to never tell him. She saw it as the same thing the Aburame elders did, a flaw in her parenting. The last thing she wanted him to think was that she was not capable of raising an Aburame, his child. She didn't understand it, did she not get enough training in her younger years? She should be perfect for him, perfect for his child, but she wasn't and she knew she could never be. She also knew that's what he deserved, in this she felt ashamed, but still couldn't think of living day by day without him by her side.

After some un-heard chit chat among the Aburame elders, they proceeded to the next question.  
"There is rumor going around that the demon fox child is staying with you, is this true?"

Her heart sank, 'demon fox child? They say it with such hate...' she didn't say anything for a long while. Soon Mujaki answered for her, "it is true, Uzumaki is staying with us for the time being"  
The elders frowned, not only at the answer, but who it was coming from.  
"Hm...We will have a thirty minute recess."

No this wasn't right, she knew it wasn't right, she was done. Half of them left shaking their heads and glaring at her, how was she going to live though these next thirty minutes? Her husband knew as well, he knew it was over, the life he gave to her would be gone. In this moment all he could do was hold her while she began to weep, "Im so sorry," was barely heard escaping her lips and the butterfly instantly became filled with grief.

**xoxoxoxoxoxox**

Nidashi finally finished cooking the boys their meal, all the while, expecting Kaiwa to knock on the door. But now it was past eleven and still no sign of her, but that was good, at least the two would get something to eat...even if it was this late. He decided to wake Naruto first and was happy to see that the blond noticed the food sitting on the table and at once began to stuff his face.

Shino on the other hand didn't want to wake up until he noticed he wasn't in his own house. But as soon as he sat up and looked around, he remembered and then smelled the food. Instantly he was beside Naruto stuffing his face just as fast as the blond. "Come outside if your done and cant sleep," the old man said with a smile and then walked out onto the porch. Of course he knew there would be a mess, but he didn't mind, it had been a while since the main room actually looked lived in.

After the boys found themselves quite full, they followed Nidashi's suggestion and headed outside in search of him. There he sat on the porch under the moonlight, staring off into the glistening stars. As the two boys walked up to him, he suddenly pointed up, "do you see the dragon?"

They both shot their eyes up at the sky. They had never seen a dragon, or wasn't even sure if they existed, but Shino remembered seeing one on the television and Naruto knew what one looked like because the Hokage had a big one carved into his main room at the Hokage tower. But as their eyes searched the sky, they saw nothing.

"A long time ago," the old man began, "the dragons cherished this land, to them it was paradise before we came. This was there the dragons would come to lay their eggs and have their children. The mountains where the Hokage monument now stands used to have small cliffs which were perfect for them and the water which the village is built around was convenient for them. After the first human set foot on this land they then considered it un-pure and ventured off to find new breeding grounds. But the dragons still loved this land and some stayed for a long while and grew to trust the humans."

Shino was amazed, dragons really did exist! But one thing confused him, where are they now and what dragon was Nidashi pointing to? His eyes still gazed long and hard at the night sky.

"Not long before the Fourth died, all the dragons disappeared. But they say that the night before they all disappeared, the leader of all the dragons went to visit an old dying man. The leader said without speaking, that they were all infected by an un-known disease and that they would all soon disappear. But he would be the first one, he would be the one to guide the last dragon home. He shot himself into the air as far as he could go and then turned into seven stars. The next morning everyone woke up and not a single dragon was seen anywhere, not a single egg was found, but the new constellation was clearly to be seen, even in the early morning sunlight," he finished his story and re-pointed to the dragon.

Naruto stared up at the sky, realizing that what he was looking for was right in front of his eyes, in clear sight. The story burned into his head, he couldn't help but feel grief for these creatures, somehow he felt the need to find out what killed them and who the last dragon was to get home...what did the old man mean by home?

**xoxoxoxoxoxox**

Only fifteen minutes had passed, and Kaiwa was on the edge of insanity. If they knew what they were going to say why would they make her wait? Why would they make her wait to hear what she knew they would say. But still, she couldn't imagine it, she couldn't imagine living without her life. Her life, the one that not only her husband gave to her, but the one she built, with her hands, with her love. But it wasn't enough.

"We will not be apart," it was the tenth or so time he had said it. Was he trying to convince her? Or himself?

The poor butterfly was also on the verge of insanity, why was there so much sadness coming off the two? The sweet smell had disappeared and only sorrow remained. The butterfly felt faint, like all of his life and energy was being drained slowly. 'Soon,' he thought, 'I shall fall asleep.' Even as he slowed the motion of his wings, no one noticed.

Then she stopped. Why cry? Why do anything if there is nothing to do. All crying would do is upset her husband, another 'flaw' in her perfect-ness. But that they could not blame on her, they would have to take it up with the mid-wifes who taught her and trained her to be his. But if this was the truth, if it really was their fault and not hers, then why was she going to be punished, thrown out with no where to go or anything on her back.

She looked around her and she reached her limit, her hearing was doubled ten fold, her mind was suddenly going one hundred miles an hour and everything seemed un-real, it was all un-real, it had to be. The rush that was flowing though her body was almost to much to take and when she stood up, everything went black and she felt herself fall.

**xoxoxoxoxoxox**

After the wonderful story, Naruto and Shino found a little vegetable garden that was big enough to play in on the side of Nidashi's house. The moon lit everything up around them and they found themselves playing in what seemed like broad daylight. But sadly, to Shino's misfortune, the only bugs that were out were a bunch of moth's and all the other blind, dumb and deaf bugs.

But Naruto was tired of bugs and really couldn't care. He found a little clear area of dirt and began to dig. Soon Shino was next to him, digging along with him. What was funny about that whole matter was, they both knew what they were making, even though they didn't say one word to each other. They were making the biggest hole that anyone ever made before. Well, that was their goal anyway.

Nidashi didn't mind or care that the kids were playing, even though it was well after midnight. No one was around to hear the kids laugh, so there was no one to complain about it. The laughing of the two kids filled his ears and gave him much comfort, it had been so long since anyone laughed in his home, to run around and have fun without any care or worry.

A child does not know the worries and hardships that the world forces upon a person until the day they die. They only know of now, this second right now and nothing else. To a child, this world is not a horrible, violent, depressing place. Its a place to learn, experience and find out more, always more. Nidashi was extremely please at how smart and curious Naruto grew up to be. He was relived that the boy wasn't a stoic, expressionless child, but the worry that he might become a child of nothing still remained and he knew he wouldn't be here to make sure that it wouldn't happen.

While Naruto and Shino were digging away in the garden, Shino made sure to make extra careful to remove all worms they found and place them into the flower bed next to them. Not five minutes went by and they hardly got any digging done, which was irritating Naruto because he wanted to dig, not play with worms.

**xoxoxoxoxoxox**

Ten minutes until the elders would return with their answer and here his wife lay on the ground in his arms. The beautiful butterfly was also out cold and lying on her stomach, unnoticed. But his wings had stopped moving and un-knowingly he was dying. You see, this butterfly was bound to Kaiwa by the words of Mujaki and this woman who he was bound to was filled to the brim with sorrow and helplessness. Butterflies are romantic, happy, heart lifting creatures, they do not know what it is to feel sorrow. But when one is bound to someone, if he can not make that person happy then his life has no purpose therefor it dies.

Kaiwa opened her eyes and looked up at her husband, pleading for an answer without speaking, tears ran down her eyes.  
He shook his head, "they have not returned yet"  
She closed her eyes for a minute trying to dispel the dizziness.  
"Can you stand"  
Kaiwa shook her head, shakily stood up and the butterfly landed on the floor.

"Kaiwa, we need to talk before the elders return," Mujaki stated, sitting his wife down on a nearby bench.  
"Please believe me when I tell you that we will not be separated"  
Kaiwa looked away, not willing to believe such a lie.

But then he noticed out of the corner of her eye, her husband was pulling something out of his pocket. She looked his way, curious how something so small that could fit in his pocket would help her. When his hand left his pocket, her eyes met a strange beautiful little box, no bigger then her husbands thumb.

"What is that?" She asked, tear stained eyes glued to the tiny box in his hand.  
"Its poison, buts its very strong, once you take it-," he was cut off.  
"Where did you get that!" Kaiwa demanded, not at all seeming pleased about it.  
"I made it last night from the poison of various spiders," he explained.

Kaiwa looked down, her husband just gave her one hundred other things to worry about and her head felt like it would crack open.  
"What about Shino?" She asked in a tone that seemed to already give him the answer he was seeking.  
"Kaiwa, he is Aburame"  
Why had life dealt her these un-fair cards? Either way, she would not be with her son, either way she would lose him.  
"You can not be so selfish!" She screamed at him, "you have to stay here and raise your son, what would happen to him if you died? What would he do!" She continued screaming in a panic. It was bad enough everyone was punishing her, but why should Shino be punished?

"How long?" She asked, lowering her voice.  
"Seven minutes," he answered, glancing out the nearby window.

Another one of her flaws as an Aburame wife flashed though her mind, she had no abilities at all. She was never trained in the way of the Shinobi so she was utterly defenseless. She knew this was another huge factor in their decision. She had no problem with shinobi and would take up the art, if she had the time. All day she is at home working her hardest to make everything perfect for the two people she loves. She would never have the time to train every day and do on week long missions.

**xoxoxoxoxoxox**

Naruto found that it was easier to move to a different garden bed rather then be frustrated with Shino. This way he could get some work done, but Shino wandered over to where Naruto was digging and was once again digging by his side. Being irritated enough as it was, Naruto began to get tired of digging, so he wandered over close to the wall of the house and noticed that under the faucet for the sprinkler hose, there was a leak and all the dirt under it was soaked in water, making it very muddy.

Naruto felt the sudden urge to touch the muddy yuckyness, wondering if it felt just like it looked. And as the blond neared the wet area of glop, he caught Shino's attention. Shino wondered why the blond kept running away from him. So he did what most people naturally do when something runs from them, they case it.

Soon both boys were nearing the wet glob that invited them in. Meanwhile Nidashi sat in his chair on the porch, nodding off, right on the verge of falling asleep. Shino, already knowing what the wet brownish black stuff was, looked to make sure that the old man wasn't looking. The last time he played in this fun stuff he got in some major trouble and was made to take a bath.

Shino watched, and for one whole minute he didn't even breathe. As soon as Nidashi's head fell, chin on chest, he jumped into the mud making it splatter everywhere, not missing Naruto in the slightest bit. He laughed and squished around in the soft wet grindy mud.

Naruto wiped his face with his hands and rubbed his fingers together feeling the smooth yet rough wet sand in his hands. How weird it looked and felt, it had to be the weirdest thing he had ever seen. Once he felt how good it felt between his fingertips, he looked at Shino, who was caked in mud and decided it looked like a good idea. Before anyone could say 'no,' Naruto was in the mud with Shino, splashing around and throwing mud everywhere. If it was during the day, you would be able to see how the grass was no longer green, but brown, caked in mud along with the two kids. Nidashi still snoozing on the porch.

**xoxoxoxoxoxox**

Three minutes until the elders return and Kaiwa was beginning to try and straiten herself up, although she knew she would crumple when they would tell her what she knew they would say. She felt like she had lived three lifetimes within these thirty minutes and found it harder to get a grip on herself then it sounded. Her husband not saying a word, just there for her support. Inside she laughed, since when and what did she do to deserve his shoulder to lean on. Another flaw, she should be the one for him to lean on, not the other way around.

As each second passed, she realized more and more how right the elders were and how many flaws, how un-perfect she was for him. What the hell were they thinking? They should have never allowed to two to marry. What were they thinking when they ordered that a child be born? How un-perfect will her child be due to her blood?

"Kaiwa, calm down," Mujaki whispered, slipping the small box in her pocket, the box that held poison deadly enough to kill any wild beast.  
She felt the weight of the box but said or did nothing, she trusted the box in her hands more then in his, at least in her hands the contents would go nowhere.  
"Im fine," she said simply, she was actually surprised at how cool the words came out, her heart rate however did not slow and her husband was aware of this (of course.)

Worry still remained in them both as they took their places in front of the great long desk, although no one was sitting in it yet. Kaiwa took out a handkerchief and wiped her face, hoping she didn't look like she had been crying for the past half an hour, not like it really mattered anyway, they knew their decision as they left the room. An image of Shino's face flashed though her mind and she realized that when she looked at him earlier standing next to Nidashi on her walkway, that was the last time she would ever see him. Why did she not know that then? Why did she only realize this now? In these three minutes she just stood there somber, telling herself over and over again that she was an idiot for not enjoying everything to its fullest, another thing she had miserably failed at.

Mujaki stared at his wife, his beloved wife who he had fallen in love with the day they mentioned her name, he knew what she was thinking and he knew that it could be nothing more from the truth. She was a wonderful mother and a beautiful loving wife. How could she not know that? She was nothing less then perfect and he could never live without her. How could she not know that?

In a way, an anger stirred through him, if she has done anything wrong at all its in this moment now. How dare she take his love for granted, how dare she not allow him to go with her, to leave this world forever and all the nasty dirty things behind. What did he do to deserve this punishment from her? And maybe he was being selfish but he really didn't care. When you are raised as a shinobi, you are not yourself, you are what they want you to be for their sake. And when your in a clan, its much much worse. But here he had the chance to live his own life, to fall in love with a wonderful woman and have a son.

But Kaiwa could see though that, she knew that it was not what he chose, they picked her and ordered her to have a son. He did not choose any of it and neither did she. But what about her son? What chances will he have in the future? And her husband is willing to pass up the chance to watch and guide him though it? Damn him!

She would give anything to stay with her son, but she is not given that option and her husband is willing to ignore that fact? By the time that the last minute struck and only two of the elders entered, both Kaiwa and Mujaki were in so many ways disgusted with each other and yet it was all due to not ever being able to sleep in the same bed, to see each other every morning when the sun would rise. They knew that from this day on they would never lay eyes on each other again.

"Kaiwa," one of the two elders addressed, "you are no longer Aburame and are here forth banished from this clan and the village in which it resides"  
Kaiwa sunk to her knees, the village as well? She was to no longer call Konoha her home? Her family?  
"Know Kaiwa," said the other elder, "that we would have taken mercy on you if you did not make the poor judgment if allowing that fox to reside in this clan. You are a broken woman and are not deserved of your husband. No, you know as well as I do that you should not be seen, you are a disgrace."

What the hell were they talking about? Who did they think they were talking to? Of course she's a broken woman, look at what they make her go though. Mujaki's anger grew to a wild rage and as the elder said his last words he blew.

"Leave child," the elder said and Kaiwa looked up with panic in her eyes.  
What could she do? She had to leave, he could not see her, he shouldn't look upon her ugly disdainful face. The elder was right, he said everything that was kept somewhere locked deep in her heart that she would never dare to admit. She left, ran, she ran as fast as she could.

Mujaki did not watch his wife leave, he could not divert his attention from the two elders that sat in front of him, looking very pleased.  
"I will not live without her!" He screamed, marching up to the desk.  
He slammed his fist on the desk, "I will not live without her!" He repeated, louder and more demanding.  
"You are acting like a child," the second elder said with a certain glare in his eyes.  
"You cannot make me live, I will die if I cannot have her! I will die..." he trailed off, knowing how deeply he meant those words. It did not matter that she had the poison, there are many ways to end ones life and they would not clarify their decision...

The two elders began to whisper to one another and finally, in utter disgust they turned to him, "then go and have her"  
Mujaki's eyes went wide, did he hear that correctly? Was he to really go and have her? Was he to go take back the woman that he cared so much for, the woman that he lived for?

At once he ran out of the room as fast as he could and both shook their heads, not sure how they were going to break this to the rest of the council. But then, one noticed something on the floor across the room and got up to take a look.

**xoxoxoxoxoxox**

Nidashi woke up to a glob of mud flying in his face. If was a very rude awakening and the last time he was awoken like that was the last mission he went on and that was over two years ago. He jumped up out of his chair with a start, what was going on?  
"What-" but he was cut short by the sight of the two boys.

At once he burst into a fit of laughter. Everything was covered in mud, including him. This would take a while to clean, but the first thing he needed to clean were these two kids.

But when he entered the bathroom with the two laughing, smiling kids, both of the children's mood changed. They were no longer laughing and having fun, but Shino was frowned and crossed his arms, knowing he would get this sort of punishment for playing in the mud. Naruto was screaming and throwing a fit, no way was he ever going to get in that tub with all the bugs that come out. But Nidashi kept nearing the bathtub and when he put the two boys down to turn on the water, Naruto made a run for it.

Down the hall and behind the couch Naruto didn't make one sound, but what he didn't know was Shino was behind him the whole time, not wanting to take a bath just as much as he did. Shino wasn't about to let Naruto escape on his own and leave him to deal with the bath.

But Nidashi was tired and in no mood to play, he quickly found the two of them and hauled a muddy Shino off down the hallway and into the bathroom. When Nidashi placed Shino in the bathtub he was not surprised at what he saw, Shino's entire upper torso was covered...layered in bugs, the only part of him that wasn't covered in bugs was his whole bottom torso, legs and all that were emerged in water.

But what amazed Nidashi was how Shino began to wash himself, knowing exactly how and where to wash. Soon he was done and rinsed. Shino stepped out of the tub and took a towel from the rack. Soon after he was dressing himself, 'amazing!' Nidashi thought, all he had to do was fill up the tub and Shino did all the rest. But the old man wondered why Naruto threw a fit. The last time Nidashi gave him a bath the blond loved it, now he was refusing to take a bath, surly the bugs wouldn't frighten him that badly.

Nidashi drained the tub and began to fill it up once again for the blond. When he entered the main room, Naruto was no longer behind the couch, but this was to be expected and although he was tired, he didn't really mind a small game of hide and seek.

**xoxoxox To Be Continued xoxoxox**

**Thank you for reading!  
(Tosses hands full of pocky in the air to all readers)**

**A/N -** I was just thinking about how awseome and convenient it was that for the past few Naruto episodes that have come out have had Shino in them all D In the past weeks I have learned a great deal about Shino and I have had to change a few ideas for the fic due to that P but I think its awesome and thought it was great timing. )

**Review Replys**-

**omnikaze**: bows really low I am so sorry for not going over chapter 5 more thoroughly I was really tired and just wanted to get the thing up, but I promice I will go over the chapters better...maybe even get a beta like you suggested.

**Shadow-Sensei**: Im sure the chapters will get longer as it goes...but I just dont want them to get too long too fast. I was worried that the last chapter would be extremly long...but I was mistaken :p I am already surpised at how long the chapters have grown since the first chapter (which was really short)...thank you for coming back to read the 6th chapter and im happy you enjoyed it.

**aznpuffyhair**: Sadly Naruto will not find out what Nidashi was hiding for him for a long time cries...Naruto will meet alot of people and there is still more Sasuke to come, although some people he will not meet for a long time, like Kakashi...Naruto meets Kakashi for the first time like he does in the manga when he's twelve...on the other hand, he meet's Iruka way sooner then twelve hehe, thats all im going to say about that :) And I totally agree with you about that woman, but sadly thats how most people in Konoha think about the poor boy. cries some more

**ZeroX1999**: I love children and Naruto always struck a place in my heart so I have tried to invision what it would be like if I were his age and going though all of what he will soon go though...Im just happy thats its going well, I was worried it would turn into a crack fic or somthing and that wouldnt be good. I hope ya come back for the next chappy!

**daniel-gudman**: hehe, better then 'I love you Naruto' P which is the name of the fic...for future reasons...

**Kanemoshi**: Thank you agian hun for all your reveiews, your one of my favorite readers. I hope this chapter eased your mind a small bit concerning Shino's mom, as you read, she happily got to stay with her family...for now P

**Krows Scared**: this is the very first time ever that I ever had anyone call my writing beautiful blush I dont know what to say, but I hope you come back to read more as it comes. D

**Thank you agian for the all reviews! I love you all! (tosses more pocky into the air)**


	7. Falling

**Disclaimer**... I do not own Naruto...Never did...Never will...sigh.  
**Written by**... Treina (Angel Crack)****

Names.  
Mujaki . Shino's Dad  
Kaiwa . Shino's Mother  
Nidashi . Old Man (who brought Naurto the chair...) 

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

**Aishiteru Naruto**

**Chapter 7- Falling**

**Naruto - Age: three**

After an hour of fussing, squirming and screaming, Nidashi was finally able to get Naruto clean. He set Naruto, who was now trying to calm down, next to Shino, who was already half asleep on the main room couch.

Shino could tell it was very late and wondered where his mother and father could be. Did they abandon him? Shino never in his life ever had the thought or worry that his parents would leave him, but then, he never had to be away from them for so long. As grown up as Shino may seem, he was very clingy with his parents, more so with his father but then again, he was with his mother every day, all day.

Beside the bath incident, Naruto was pretty content, he was at Nidashi's house once more, with a full stomach and clean clothes, Naruto was all to happy to fall asleep.

But Shino watched the blond with worry, would he have to live like this for the rest of his life? Did they really abandon him? Shino's heat raced as he fought back tears and got up to stare out of the window.

**xoxoxoxoxox**

Mujaki was finally able to catch up to his wife, but she still refused stop, and would not dare let him see her.

He finally grabbed her wrist, "lets go home," he ordered and began to drag her in the direction of the house.  
"No..." She pleaded, "its all wrong, we were never meant to be...I cant stay here!" Deep down she knew this was true, very very true...but somehow what she was doing now felt wrong...very wrong.

"Kaiwa, you are my wife and you belong at home with my child," he said in a very serious tone, "...tell me," he fought with his struggling words, "what were you raised for?" As he asked that question, a violent pain clogged his thought, but he knew that it needed to be asked...it was the only thing he could use to bring her back.

She was stuck dumb, how could he ask her such a thing? During their entire marriage she somehow knew that her husband must know about her parents, about her life as a child and what she was raised for. He was right, her husband, the man she learned to be perfect for was ordering her to come back, and here she was plainly and bluntly disobeying him. What was wrong with her?

She sunk to her knees and looked up at him, "I'm so sorry."

**xoxoxoxoxox**

Old man Nidashi watched Shino stare out the window, he had been like that for an hour now and Nidashi had thought up 100 different things to say to the child, but thought none of them would help and half of them he wasn't sure if they held any truth. He could tell Shino that his parents would definitely come back, but he really wasn't sure of that.

Nidashi knew what Kaiwa had to do this night and he felt pity for her. For the twenty years that he had lived in this house, he watched many brides fall in love and then get banished. Knowing that their love can never come back, a lot of the Aburame men become un-stable...after that happens, Nidashi didn't know. But through the years he watched as the clan got smaller and smaller. Out of all the clans, Aburame were the most strict about their marriage laws, so strict that over half the woman in the village wouldn't even dare take a look...unless they were young and didn't have a brain.

Nidashi chuckled at the thought of his daughter, he remembered the times when all she could talk about was a certain Hyuuga that was in her class, and when he was assigned to a different team, she was depressed for weeks. He remember the pain she gave him every morning when he would wake her up for training and missions. Soon enough she quit being shinobi and was happy working in the little store her mother, Nidashi's wife, owned.

But then the fox came...

"Look!" Shino yelled, pointing out the window, waking Naruto up.

Nidashi got up to take a look and saw Mujaki walking down the street toward the house and relief passed over him, but maybe not as much as little Shino, who was on the verge of jumping up and down right on Naruto, who was now wide awake and staring at Shino with a puzzled look on his face, what was this supposed to be? Payback? But when he noticed the pointing finger and Nidashi also staring out the window, he got up to see what all the commotion was about.

Then he saw Shino's dad walking up to the house and his heart sank, would he have to leave again and go back with that weird family? Why would no one allow him to stay with Nidashi, the person he wanted to stay with...not that the Aburame family wasn't nice, they were just weird. Shino flew off the couch and ran to the door, eagerly awaiting his fathers knock.

**xox**TAP TAP**xox**

Mujaki knocked quietly, hoping not to wake the two kids, it was almost three in the morning and he assumed that they were both in bed but was surprised to see the door open and Shino come running out and into his arms.

"Come in for a moment," Nidashi requested and he stepped into the small house.  
"How is Kaiwa?" The old man asked, trying to choose his words carefully.  
"She's at home in bed right now, its been a long night...how were the kids?" He figured a change of subject would be appropriate, he didn't want Shino to begin worrying about things that he had no control over.  
"They were both angels...Shino stayed up and watched for you, I think he was a bit worried," Nidashi replied, smiling at little Shino who was still in his fathers arms.

For a while there was silence and Naruto hoped that Mujaki wouldn't say it, wouldn't call him to go with him, he didn't want to go. He repeated his wish over and over again in his mind until the silence was broken.

"Well, we should head back, I'm sure we all could do with some sleep," Mujaki stated, turning to Naruto, "come Naruto," and he extended his hand.  
Naruto shook his head, he wasn't going to go, they couldn't make him leave! "No"  
"Naruto!" Nidashi snapped, "what are you saying? Go home and go to bed! You can come back tomorrow if its okay with Kaiwa."

Since when was it her decision and not the Third, where was the Third in all of this? Naruto crossed his arms and made a pouting face.  
"Naruto we are leaving now," Mujaki stated and put Shino down.

The blond shook his head with defiance and Mujaki began to near the child. What was this man going to do? He had said all but three words to Naruto during his stay and as he got closer, Naruto noticed how frighteningly huge he was, towering over him like he himself was nothing more then a bug.  
"No!" Naruto yelled backing away on the couch. What was he going to do? Would he slap him like that one woman who locked him in that room?

Mujaki picked Naruto up and slung him over his shoulder, in a way Naruto enjoyed it, but when he noticed that they were heading to the door he was not pleased at all. He began to kick and scream, he didn't want to go back there, he wanted to stay here!

"NO!" He screamed at the top of his lungs.

Nidashi shook his head as he watched the three walk up the street, "its no good to get attached so easily Naruto," he said in a sad voice before going back to into his, now empty, quiet house.

**xoxoxoxoxox**

When they got back to Shino's house, Mujaki put the two kids strait to bed and retired himself. Luckily for Naruto, he left the door open, but Naruto still found that he couldn't sleep, he just stared at the ceiling for hours and when the sky began to get lighter, he dozed off.

As he slept, he found himself in a strange dream. He was falling and he wasn't stopping, he fell and fell and fell, until Kaiwa awoke him with her smile, but he jolted awake, afraid that he had actually hit the bottom. When he looked around, heart still racing, Shino was already awake and changing his clothes while Kaiwa opened the window.

"Come to the kitchen for breakfast when your ready," she said to the both of them two didn't show any response that they heard her, but right now she didn't really care and made her way back into the kitchen.

Naruto felt like he couldn't even get up, his whole body and mind felt tired, so he laid back down, closing his eyes. Little did he know, that he had only slept for two hours and the sleep that he received during that time was not great. But he did get to sleep peacefully for an extra half hour, until Kaiwa came in to see if he was okay, she was begining to get a little worried, Shino had already finished his food a while ago and was now in the yard playing.

She walked quietly and slowly to the bed, automatically she figured that the blond was sick, considering how long he was sleeping this morning. She pressed a hand against his cheek and then Kissed his forehead, Shino walked in and stared at them wondering what they were doing.

"Shino come here," she called, and then kissed his forehead as well.  
"Hmmm...your not feverish," she said in a relived tone, "Naruto..." she called shaking him gently.  
Shino pounced on the bed, "wake up! wake up!" he began chanting while jumping up and down on the bed.  
"Shino get down..." she ordered, "your fathers going to be leaving soon," she added in a suggestive manor.

Naruto who was now wide awake, but still very sleepy, looked at Kaiwa, who somehow looked different.  
"Your food is cold, I'm heating it up now," she said with a smile and placed his clothes out for him.  
He attempted to dress himself and did a pretty good job for a three year old, that, and it was a one piece with a zipper, but he was pretty proud of himself. He rushed into the kitchen when he smelled the food and had no problem downing it all in under five minutes.

Later that day, both kids would go to Nidashi's house to play, then they would return to the Aburame estate when the sun set. For weeks they did this and Nidashi couldn't be happier about the company. About every other day he would take them to the hot spring and after a while, Shino was sure he would be able to walk there blindfolded. They never tired of the place or Nidashi.

Shino found it interesting, not even a month ago all he would do was sit in front of the window and wait for his father to return. Without his dad, he really didn't find anything fun. But he made sure to keep a close watch on this blond, this kid, who had invaded his home and territory.

As for Naruto, it took him months to get even a little used to the Aburame house, it was three months until he was able to fall asleep at ease and the dream of falling faded from his mind. The Third wasn't seen much and Naruto sometimes wondered if he did something wrong to make the Third not want him, but that thought never lasted long for he would find something else to indulge himself in, the world was so big, how could you linger on one subject to long and then miss everything else that passes you by.

**xoxoxoxoxox**

Naruto Age: Four (about a year later)

Then, on the first day of the rain season, Naruto woke up to a strange feeling. As he looked around, he had a strong feeling that something wasn't right. Where was the smell of cooking food? The faint sounds of people walking around in the kitchen and main room? Everything was silent, everything but the rain that was just beginning to fall.

Naruto got up, dressed himself and walked into the main room, but still, no one was there. He wandered around the house for a while until he came upon door that lead to the backyard and gardens. That's when he heard something, something like crying...then.  
"Stop!" he heard Shino's father yell in rage and what sounded like a crowd of people were heard talking and murmuring among themselves.

His eyes grew wide at the sound of anger in the man's voice, his heart pounding hard against his chest. All at once he wanted to open that door to see what was going on behind it, but something inside him told him not to. Naruto's fear grew to great heights as a crowd seemed to be getting restless. The crying of Shino and Kaiwa mixed with the murderous rage that was escaping Mujaki's mouth seemed to be growing louder.

"Silence! Be still everyone!" Came the voice of an unknown man.  
Everyone was quiet and all that could be heard was Shino's small whimpers for his mother.  
"The trial concerning Kaiwa Aburame will begin shortly," there was a small pause, "Kitu, secure the surrounding premises and inform the Hokage of this matter, we are not to be disturbed," another pause.  
"Trial begins in five minutes, everyone be silent for the elders arrival."

Not one sound was heard, even Shino wasn't heard though all the silence. So long a time passed that Naruto was once again getting the courage to open that door. Maybe everyone left and it was all some big joke...or they were putting on a play for someone. Tons of possibilities filtered though his mind, but one thing turned off half of them. Why was Shino crying? Out of all the months that he had been with that family, the blond never once heard Shino cry. Another question, why wasn't he crying now?

Naruto placed his hands on the handle and as he slowly slid the door open, but all he could see were the backs of very tall men. He crouched down a little lower and then, between the legs of an un-known man, the first thing he caught sight of, was Kaiwa. Fear wrenched his heart as he watched them tie her to a huge wooden pole, they must have placed it there recently because Naruto couldn't recall there being a large wooden pole in the middle of the yard.

Tears ran down her face as she watched her son watch her with the same broken eyes. "Why must he watch this!" She wailed, "why must he be here"  
"Because child," one of the elders answered, "Shino Aburame should know what his mother is."

Shino was confused and wasn't sure what he should do. He kept looking at his father, who was being held back by about ten other Aburame men, couldn't he do something to stop this nightmare? What the hell was going on? What did he do to deserve this torture? What were they going to do to her? More tears ran down his face as he reached for his mother. "NO! YOU CANT!" he screamed, they cant! They cant!

"Silence him!" Another elder ordered, "the trial begins now," he announced, turning to the rest of the clan.  
"A whole year has passed us by since we, the council, came to the conclusion that Kaiwa was not fit to be Aburame, in this years time, we have watched her closely...and perhaps we were right to take her name," he paused a moment and looked at Mujaki.  
"But we kept her name for the sake of this child," he pointed at the young Aburame, who scowled at him in return.  
"What is your reasoning?" he demanded, knowing what a bunch of crock this whole thing was.  
"We were willing to overlook the fact that you were still keeping that demon fox in your possession."

What were they talking about? A demon fox? Naruto's heart skipped a beat, he could remember that fox, that fox that was standing on the bed looking strait into his soul just to rip it all apart. Naruto clutched his chest with his fist, that had to be the same one they were talking about.

"But when we found this," the elder gestured to a young man who then handed him a small box, "we were filled with overwhelming grief and regret," he opened the box and showed everyone what it contained, a beautiful blue butterfly. But it was still, it didn't move at all, yet its beauty and color still caught every eye in the yard and a few of those eyes instantly recognized the butterfly.

Both Naruto and Shino knew that it had to be that one butterfly...on the first day Shino went to their secret place, the one that twirled around them both in a playful manner, but Shino knew that it could easily be a different one.

"This rare butterfly was bound to Kaiwa Aburame by the song of her husband," he handed the open box back to the young man and he showed it to Kaiwa.  
"Shortly after we found it, it died of despair, "he continued and the young man handed the box back to the elder, "at that moment, we decided to watch her and preserved the beauty of her butterfly," the elder was happy to see that the rest of the clan seemed to agree with him, this greatly relieved them, the elders were paranoid about the clans reaction to the decision to preserve this creature, they haven't done it for over a century and in a way, it was sort of "forbidden" but was never officially classified as a forbidden jutsu, they really didn't see the need.

"What does this prove?" Rage coursing though his veins, Mujaki tried his hardest to keep a steady voice.  
"Your wife's mental state has collapsed," he answered, quickly silencing the young man.  
"The day we found this butterfly was the day that we chose to take her name. For the past year we have researched heavily and what we have found disturbs us greatly," the elder handed the box back to the young man and picked up some papers that were sitting on the small table in front of him, he let a long pause pass before he continued.

The more he listened, the more Naruto didn't like it, he didn't like the feelings emanating off the people, and the look in the main elders eyes. As more time passed, the feelings grew and the fire in the old man's eyes grew hotter. Where was the Third?

"Kaiwa Aburame, maiden name, Kitaru was birthed in the hidden earth village and was moved here with her two parents at the age of two by order of Tsuchikage. When her parents died due to the invasion of the Kitsune, we agreed to take her in and raise her to be a bride."

He flipped through a few of the papers, "we have the information that the hidden earth village is now on the move and looking for her whereabouts, two weeks ago we looked into her parents and was surprised to find that her mother was a spy, but was killed before she could deliver any information. We were informed two days ago that they now know where Kaiwa is and what she could and does know about the secrets of this clan."

Mujaki's eyes went wide with horror, they cant do it, what the hell are they thinking! But Kaiwa lowered her head, she couldn't believe that these old men, who knew nothing about the woman she was, knew her more then she knew herself. She knew what they were planning to do...what they were going to show her son, but what could she do about it? Somewhere inside she was always getting ready for this moment...somehow knowing that something would bring it along. But her calm mind soon tore and she threw herself around trying to get loose from the ropes that held her tightly to the wooden pole, every movement causing a dozen splinters throughout her back and arms. How could she let this happen? Why didn't she leave when she had the chance? How stupid could she be? She knew it was coming and she sat by to wait for it.

Shino looked at both his parents with confusion, what was going to happen? He could feel the panic and need to do something rise within his two protectors, "what are you going to do?" Everyone stopped and turned to him. Oddly enough, they all had a look of sorrow for the boy. How could they answer that question without him hating the clan for the rest of his days.

"We are going to make sure that the bad guys don't get a hold of our secrets," the elder answered, gesturing to the young man who now held a lit torch in his hands.  
"You must take him away," Mujaki demanded "he must not see this"  
The elder's eyes went thin as he thought about the young man's request, "very well, take the child to Nidashi's hut at the end of the road," he said with irritation, "now be silent, I will speak with you after the present matter," he turned back to the young man and took the torch.  
"Please, don't do this...please," Kaiwa pleaded for her life, red eyes, tear stained, her throat so dry that the words hardly came out.  
"We can not allow the fall of our clan for one woman, you should know this," he formed a few seals and then threw the torch at the bottom of the pole and it all went up in flames.

Mujaki watched with tears of his own, how could he let this happen? He should have let her go when she had the chance, he should have never forced her back against her will...and she knew damn it, she knew something like this was going to happen. Since that day that he dragged her back to her home and son, she had been distant, like she really wasn't there at all, now she will never be...There will never be that small chance that she would return. She was leaving, and nothing he could say could change it. He cant even protect his own family more or less the Hokage.

Kaiwa didn't make a sound as she felt her flesh burn to the flaming pole, it was her fate to die this way and she knew it, so she let herself go and fell into darkness.

Naruto sat watching with every emotion running though his body, yet he was never aware of them the entire time, his eyes were glued to the fire. What the hell was this? His heart raced and when Kaiwa's head fell limp as the flames grew higher, he ran out into the crowd in panic.  
"What are you doing? You cant! You cant! STOP!" He screamed, running to Kaiwa, not sure what to do when he would get there, but a huge man picked him up. Naruto's hands reached for the flames as tears flew from his eyes, what was this feeling? Suddenly, everything around him began to turn black, he suddenly couldn't make his body move, everything was spinning, spinning and then, he began to fall.

**xoxoxoxoxox**

During this late morning, Nidashi had decided to sleep in late and for a whole five minutes, he didn't hear the Aburame knocking on his door, until, 'BAM BAM BANG!' Nidashi woke with a startle to the maniac banging on his door like it was training equipment or something.

When Nidashi answered the door, he was met with the glare of a very tall Aburame man holding a shaking, anguished, pathetic looking Shino in his arms. But this man was clearly not the boy's father, "what have you been doing old man?" The tall Aburame asked, "you must take this child and make sure no harm comes to him," he handed Shino to Nidashi and turned to leave, not wanting to miss the verdict.

"Where is Naruto?" Nidashi asked, worry evident in his voice.  
"Who?" The man asked, looking at him like he was senile.  
"The blond little boy, he's about Shino's age," he said in a somewhat relived tone, at least all this wasn't centered around him.  
"I don't know what your talking about old man," and he was off, seen running back up the hill.

Nidashi suddenly realized how badly Shino was shaking, but his crying and whispers for his mother died down. What the hell was going on over there, and where was Naruto?

**xoxoxoxoxox**

The elder walked up to the broken man, who held Naruto in his trembling hands, he may not be able to stop the death of his wife. But no child should ever see somthing so horrid as the death of an innocent woman. No, no child should ever see what death looks like at all. "Gomen Naruto..." he whispered before he shot a death glare at the elder.

"You"  
"I know what you will say...kill yourself if you like, but if you do, you should know that I will be forced to kill your son," he bent down and looked at Mujaki with what looked like pure sympathy, "you have already destroyed your wife, you wouldn't want to do the same with your beloved son."

It was over, his is life just turned into a living hell in which he can not escape, not even through death. What was this place? He would have never dreamed, never in a million years that the clan was so ruthless, "it will be your end," he stated in a low serious tone.  
"We handed you this life Mujaki," the old man stated, choosing to ignore the last remark that escaped the young ignorant brat, "we can easily take it away. This is your life, you should be proud of it, you should know that we got rid of her for you. We cant have any of our clan members recorded as traiters, we had to secure your future"  
"please, just...be quiet," Mujaki whispered in a mumble.  
"What did you say?" The elder shot his head back, glaring into his soul.  
It took him a few minutes to answer, "your mouth is full of lies, just keep it shut," he shot his head up, a deadly fire in his eyes.

In one quick second, Mujaki felt the sting and burn of the elders cane as it was whipped across his face, "watch your mouth boy," the old man turned around and began stalking off, "get rid of that...thing, now. The only reason why I have not delt with him myself is because I am under direct order to not harm...him. Get him out of here, I never want to look on that cursed face ever agian," and he was gone, leaving the broken man behind with the banished child in his hands.

**xoxoxoxoxox**

Nidashi had finally got Shino to calm down somewhat and fall asleep. This was the time when he wished he still had a few friends around, but he was too old and everyone had left him. Where is Naruto?

**xo**Tap Tap**xo**

He rushed to the door, hoping his question would be answered and Naruto was safe, he couldn't bear outliving the blond as well, deep inside he had the dreaded feeling of death.

"Oh Mujaki," He was surprised to see the man again, he was very well reserved and mostly kept to himself, even within the Aburame clan. But now he was at his door, looking at him with seeming intensity, but Nidashi could tell that his mind was not with him and his sight passed right though him. The next thing he noticed was the passed out Naruto in his arms, "that goodness, come in..."

He nodded and walked in the quiet house, he assumed Shino must be sleeping, "...how is my son"  
Nidashi smiled, "he's fine...had quite a fright, but he's sleeping now," he took Naruto into his arms and laid him on the main room couch, "how is Kaiwa?"

The Aburame said nothing, did nothing, he just stood there as if the question was never asked. For a while there was a long uncomfortable silence and Nidashi regretted ever asking the question, "your son is in my guest room if you would like to see him..." Nidashi suggested.  
"No...I should be going...Would it be alright if he stays with you tonight?" Nidashi's heart skipped a beat, what was the man planning on doing?  
"Its fine, he can stay here for the night," the old man replied with a smile, it really was none of his business anyway.  
"I will be at the estate if you need anything," and he left, shaking as he closed the door.

**xoxoxo** _To Be Continued_ **xoxoxo**

Review Replys for chapter 6- (insert in chapter 5)

**left eye right eye brown eye**: thank you for pointing that out lol I got caught up in my writing and didn't really think about it...but its soooo easy to picture him yelling at Kaiwa during certain parts P I hope he didn't yell too much in this chapter...

**Kanemoshi**: hehe...remember in how the butterfly fell...during all the commotion, both Kaiwa and her husband had completely forgotten about the butterfly, (which you find in this chapter, is bound to Kaiwa) While I was writing that, the mud thing came mind and I had to put it in, it was sooo cute! blush

**Travista**: I'm happy you enjoyed the fic, I hope you return to read future chapters )

_**Thank you everyone else who reviewed! Your kind words give me great inspiration, its your words that keep me cranking away at the keyboard. I am also terribly sorry for the long wait for this chapter... but I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did writing it.**_


	8. Sleeping

Disclaimer... I do not own Naruto...Never did...Never will...sigh.  
Written by... Treina (Angel Crack)

**  
Names.**  
Mujaki . Shino's Dad  
Kaiwa . Shino's Mother  
Nidashi . Old Man (who brought Naurto the chair...)

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

**Aishiteru Naruto**

**Chapter 8- Sleeping**

Naruto - Age: four  
Shino - Age: five  
Hinata- Age: four 

Nidashi found it fascinating how much Mujaki aged within the past year. He almost looked like an old man, but the way he was walking up the hill only made the image stronger. That made Nidashi think, when did he start looking like an old man? An image of the giant kitsune flashed through his mind and he pushed it away, turning to Naruto.

"You poor thing," he whispered, slowly walking to Naruto's side.

As he stared at the sleeping blond, he noticed some discoloration on the boy's neck. He bent down to take a better look, rolling Naruto over on to his stomach, the child didn't stir. The entire back of his neck was black and blue, totally damaged, "what the hell?" He ran to his first aid kit and began to treat Naruto quickly.

Hours went by and Naruto slept, soon Shino awoke and crept into the main room where he saw Nidashi watching over Naruto. For a while, his mind wandered and he just stared off into space, not really looking at or thinking about anything. Then it all came to him, where was his mom? "Okaa-san..." Shino called with a tone that could almost be a question, "Okaa-san..." tears filled his eyes and he didn't even know why. Nidashi got up from his seat and walked over to the boy.

"Your father is home"  
"Lets go!" Shino announced and walked over to the door, "come on"  
"Okay..." Nidashi looked over at Naruto who was still out cold, "hold on one minute," the old man picked Naruto up and carried him so the boy's head was resting on his shoulder, "lets go," he whispered.

It was three in the morning, you could tell, you could feel it. The air was cold, but not quite damp enough to leave everything covered in dew, but it was quiet. No one was out but the three of them and no bird made a sound the entire time. But one thing hit Nidashi wrong, where were all the crikets? But as the drew nearer to the Aburame estate, crikets could then be heard. It was a strange night, that was for sure.

The closer they got, the more anxious Shino was to see his mother and father. He wanted to know what all that was about today and he could only thank whatever god is out there that he developed the ability to ask. If he was his dad, the first thing he would do now, is leave, "come on!" Shino pulled Nidashi further up the hill while Naruto still slept. With each step it seemed like the boy was getting heavier and heavier. 'Maybe im too old for this sort of thing,' he thought to himself as they finally reached the top of the hill.

Shino caught sight of the Aburame estate walls and took off its direction, Nidashi shook his head, "this is not good, its three in the morning and I have a three year old running down the streets in Konoha with a fifty pound kid on my back," he sunk his head and trucked on, hoping to catch up with the child.

When Shino reached the outside gates, he found it locked, so he yelled as loud as he could, "OKAA-SAN! OKAA-SAN"  
Half of the estate lit up and soon his father came to the gates, but Shino couldn't make out the expression on his face, it wasn't anger, it was much bitter.  
"Where is Nidashi?" His father asked with a firm tone.

"Im here, I am so sorry about this," Nidashi said, chest heaving, "he insisted on coming home, I could not deny him that, you understand." Nidashi was hoping that the young Mujaki would, he was half hesitant on the matter, but none of it was his business, if the child wanted to go home, he would see to it.  
"Yes, I understand, thank you Nidashi," Muajki placed a hand on his son's shoulder and turned around to enter the estate.  
"What about Naruto?" Nidashi urged, hoping they would still look after the child.

Mujaki turned his head to the side, "he will stay elsewhere, not here," and then continued walking.  
When the old man turned around into the street, he didn't get half a block away before a very old friend emerged from the darkness, "good evening," the Third said with half a smile and alot of remorse shown on his face.

Both said nothing for a long while, until Nidashi broke the silence, "where have you been"  
"I was with the Aburame council and elders for most of the night, I have not spoken with Mujaki yet...how is Naruto?" He asked, adverting his eyes to the sleeping blond on his back.

"He was brought to me earlier ...his neck is pretty bad, but I treated him, so he should be okay," he paused a moment, wondering if he should ask the question that needed to be asked, "what happened in there today"  
"I cant disclose most of that information, but they found out Kaiwa associated with the spy's from the hidden earth," he said nothing more, and Nidashi knew not the push the subject.  
"I must leave now old friend, I have things I must attend to, I will come by tomorrow and see how Naruto is doing"  
Nidashi unconsciously nodded at the words of the Third, and began to walk back down the hill, head filled with images of the past, the weight of the four year old forgotten.

As Nidashi neared his house, he felt a shift of weight on his shoulders and Naruto nodded into consciousness, "where's Kaiwa-san?" he asked, voice hardly escaping his lips. "...Shino went home, your going to stay with me tonight," the old man said reassuringly and the blond went back to sleep, knowing that everything would be okay.

Two days came and passed and Naruto slept through it all. The Third had come by to make sure Naruto was okay and inform Nidashi that he would have to take care of the child until he could figure somthing else out. The old man gladly agreed and didnt seem to mind the extra company a four year old would bring. But by the third day, the old man began to worry, would the child ever wake up?

As Nidashi prepared yet another meal that the blond would probably not eat, he hummed a tune that hung over his head, it was a beautiful day, nice and warm with a slight breeze. He had kept all the doors and windows open that morning, hoping to get a nice spring smell vented throughout the house. He knew it wouldn't be long before the spring showers began and everything would be wet for weeks, so he was going to take advantage of the nice weather.

Soon enough a little head popped into the kitchen, "where's Kaiwa-san?" Naruto's little voice echoed through the kitchen.  
"I don't know...but here's some breakfast," Nidashi quickly changed the subject.  
Naruto's eyes lit up with excitement, he hadn't eaten in over two days and food was sounding extra good at the moment.  
He ran to the table and Nidashi served him his food but this time, he didn't scarf it all down like it was air, he took his time and made sure to taste every bite, it was so good!

By his third helping he was done and lazily stretched himself out, "Nidashi?" Naruto asked.  
"Hm?" The old man turned his attention to the blond.  
"Where is Kaiwa-san"  
There was that question again and what could he say?  
"I don't know Naruto...but Shino is okay," Nidashi placed a hand on the blonde's head.  
Naruto furrowed his eyebrows, "lets go," he said in a determined voice.  
"Go where?"

Naruto walked over to the door, slid it open and then turned around with a finger to his lips, "shhh, to the secret place," he said in a whisper and Nidashi couldn't help but smile.  
"Oh, okay," Nidashi played along keeping his voice in a whisper, following little Naruto out the door.  
But as they passed the old man's house, on their way to the woods, Naruto noticed someone was watching them, so he waved.

The little girl who was standing behind a tree noticed the boy wave and she couldn't help but blush, who was this person? She had never seen him before and his appearance made her curious of where he might have come from. He was so different looking from everyone else with his bright golden hair and little whisker marks, who was he?

Naruto tugged on Nidashi's sleeve and pointed to the little girl who was hiding behind the tree, "who is that"  
"Who?" Nidashi focused his attention to where Naruto was pointing, "oh her...I don't know, why don't you go over there and see"  
Naruto nodded and began to walk over in her direction.

Was he walking tword her? Was he intending to talk to her? What should she do? What would she say? A thousand questions ran through her mind as the boy got closer and closer. She hid completely behind the tree, not that it would do her much good, the boy was three steps from the tree and all Naruto had to do was look around it.

"Hi!" He said and waved at her.  
She could do nothing but blush, and when her pale eyes met his vibrant blue ones, her entire face turned red and she ran to the other side of the tree.  
Naruto frowned, this girl was weird, but it seemed like a fun game so he went back to the other side of the tree, "Hi!" he said again, and once more, the little girl ran back to the other side of the tree. This went on for several minutes and finally, Naruto decided that it was getting boring.

"Hey"  
Hinata jumped at the rise and tone of the boy's voice, was he angry at her? "Hai"  
"What's your name? My name is Uzumaki Naruto!" He said his name with pride, in a tone where Hinata almost felt guilty for not already knowing it.  
"Hinata..." she answered in a bare whisper and Naruto frowned.  
"What?" He inched closer so he could hear her words.  
Her face turned three darker shades of red as she scrunched up her face, "Hinata!" She managed to yell a bit this time, surly he should have heard her but she gave him no time to reply, she ran back to her home as fast as she could, face still red with embarrassment.

Naruto cocked his head to the side while watching her run, why is she leaving? He walked back over to the smiling Nidashi, "she's weird"  
Nidashi chuckled at Naruto's statement, "I think she likes you."

But Naruto was not listening, he was already leading the way once again back their secret spring.  
They didn't even get halfway there before the old man began to get tired, he watched Naruto jump around from behind, "Im getting to old for this," he whispered to himself while Naruto continued talking. What he was talking about, the old man had no idea, he had stopped listening a while ago, not able to keep up with the child's constant change of subject and words that he couldn't quite form yet. With each step his body grew heavier, like some invisible force was pulling him down, his breath was short and spazmatic, but rapidly growing at a faster pace.

Is it time? Will this be the day? Nidashi's eyes were fixed on the bouncing Naruto.

Now that someone needs the old man again, he would parish? This is when fate decided that it would take him? Now out of all the times the he had wished for death, it was coming to him when he needed his life more then ever?  
How cruel, "how cruel..." there he was, standing in the secret spring, the spring that he ran to when the Kitsune attacked the village, the spring where he had hid while his entire family was getting slaughtered by the demon fox.

Naruto looked up at Nidashi and saw tears running down his cheeks, what was wrong?  
"Are you okay?" Naruto tugged on Nidashi's sleeve for the second time that day.  
"Yes Naruto, im just a little tired," the old man walked over to where he had buried the box and sat down, his back lounging against cool bark of the ancient tree.

Naruto watched him for a while and then went about playing, he found that when he would dig near the spring water deep enough, he would always find a type of mud, only he could mold it. After this discovery, he would play with the substance every time he came to the spring, and this time was no exception.

Caught up in playing, Naruto lost track of time and soon the sun began to set. Naruto, who was already half wet, shivered from the night breeze that blew through the spring. He was done playing and food didn't sound to bad so he turned to Nidashi, who was still sleeping under the huge tree and walked over to the old man.  
"Come on Nidashi-san, im hungry..." but Nidashi didn't stir from his sleep. Naruto stood there for a while, not sure what to do, should he just let him sleep? The old man had said that he was tired.

"Nidashi-san..." Naruto whispered, gently shaking the old man's shoulder, "Nidashi-san"  
But still, the old man didn't make a move, not one.

Maybe the old man really did need his sleep.  
Naruto sat down and stared at Nidashi intently and soon it was completely dark, the stars revealing themselves. Naruto's entire body shook un-controllably, "Nidashi-san..." tears began to run down the blonde's face, what was going on? Why wouldn't the old man wake up? He looked around and decided that they would have to get home, but how? Naruto picked up Nidashi's hand, it was as cold as ice, this was not a good thing, he would get sick at this rate.

Naruto pulled on Nidashi's arm in attempt to maybe drag him home if not wake him up. But he didn't budge, not one bit.  
"We have to go home!" Naruto yelled in a panic, he needs to wake up! Naruto pulled him again, but still, he didn't budge, as if some force was keeping his body glued the way it was. He fell to his knees in defeat and then frowned, he had to get back, something inside told him that no matter what, they had to get back. He knew how secret this place was, if anything happened, no one would be able to find them.

He got up and tried again. After half an hour, Naruto was finally able to get Nidashi on his back, his shaking still continued but his mind was no longer aware of it, he had to get back. Three hours went by and he was able to drag Nidashi just out of the spring, but he could go no further, his entire body hurt and he couldn't even lift his arms more or less drag Nidashi any further.  
"Wake up!" Naruto screamed, shaking the old man viciously, "what's wrong!"

Minutes later, he fell asleep due to all the crying, and had another dream where he fell and fell and there was never any end to it, what would happen if he hit the bottom? For hours it seemed like he fell, and he hoped that it would go on like this because he knew that if he hit the bottom, it wouldn't be good. But faintly, in the darkness that surrounded him, far far off, he heard someone yelling.

"Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!" With each syllable it got closer and soon he could see something, but it was fuzzy and as soon as it came into focus, he noticed that what he was looking at, was himself.

The boy was crying over some sort of huge black shape lying on the ground. The words were still repeated over and over from the crying boy's lips as it got closer. Naruto braced himself for the image, somhow thinking it would pass through him, but he was startled when as soon as the image reached him, he found himself crying over the blackened object who he knew had to be Nidashi.

"Wake up! Wake up!" He yelled as streamed of tears ran down his face, "WAKE UP"  
But the black shape began to fade and soon he was left alone, alone.

"NO!" He screamed as he awoke, sitting strait up in bed, breathing heavily. His head felt heavy as he looked around the white room, it was so clean! He had never in his entire life ever seen anything so clean, so white. But right now it wasn't all that great, it made his head hurt even more staring at the white sheets, blankets, tiles. Everywhere he looked it was white, they even took his clothes and put him in white. What was this? But most important, where was Nidashi?

As his exhausted body attempted to get out of the bed, he ended up falling smack on his head against the hard floor. He bit back tears as he dizzily got to his feet, he needed to find Nidashi, was he still at the spring? As he neared the door, he heard someone walking down the hall outside. When the nurse entered the room, she was startled to see Naruto standing in front of her, awake.

"Your awake? Already? Umm...go back to bed and I will go get someone..." she almost shook from the fear that coursed through her body. Just look at his face! He even looks like the fox! She ran out of the room and locked the door behind her.

The memories from that night flocked to him in such a rush that his heart skipped a beat. He screamed at the top of his lungs, choking every now and then due to the tears that flowed down his already stained cheeks. "No!"

As the Third reached the second floor where Naruto's room was stationed, he heard the screamed of Naruto echoing throughout the hall. He ran at shinobi speed and reached the door several minutes before the nurse that had informed him of the child's awakening.  
But he found the door was locked, "Naruto?" The Third called and heard Naruto say something bet didn't catch it, the words were muffled through the door and the child's crying didn't help any, "Are you okay!"

Everything was silent for a while and Naruto decided the only answer would be yes...now that the Third had arrived, there was nothing to be scared of, now that he wasn't alone, he knew there was no threat.

"Hai," he answered in a stoic tone.  
"Why is this door locked?" The Thirds words were very strict and held a tone of authority in them, "un-lock it!" he demanded and the female voice quickly replied. "Hai!" she opened the door as fast as she could, little did Naruto know how badly the girl was shaking, this was definitely not her day. Thinking about it, the last thing she wanted to do was get on the little demon's hate list, so what the hell was she thinking? Did she want to die? The nurse scolded herself as her shaking hands tried to un-lock the door. Soon the keys were taken from her and the door was open, it was open! She shut her eyes tightly and moved out of view, a few steps into the hallway.

Naruto smiled and ran to the Third, who bent down to look over the boy, "what happened to your head"  
The child blushed and looked down with embarrassment, "I fell..." I fell...I fell... Naruto turned white as a sheet as the memory of the dream hit him.  
"Naruto?" The Third asked with concern, a few minutes ago the boy was smiling, now he was pale and sick looking, tears slowly filled his eyes, but he didn't move or blink, "Naruto!" The Third repeated, raising his voice in fear.

"Where's Nidashi-san?" This question hit the Hokage like lightning, and he stayed silent.  
"Ne? Where did Nidashi-san go?" Naruto turned his head to the Third and blinked the tears from his eyes.  
"He..." the Hokage swallowed, why with the kids? He was tired of having to tell children about the death of someone who is most important them, why would it even happen? Something about it didn't seem right, "he's not here Naruto..."

"Where?" Naruto grabbed the Thirds sleeve, "where did he go?" The blond was screaming, angered at the Third's answer, "where did he go"  
"He died Naruto..." he blurted them out, knowing that was the only thing he could say, "just like Kaiwa..." Naruto frowned at the memory of the fire, the fire? "No he didn't! He was just sleeping!" He stammered, were they crazy? He was there, he was with the old man and there was never any fire, none! "He was asleep!" Naruto was screaming at the top of his lungs, he knew the Third was wrong.

"...but he will never wake up Naruto, he is not here anymore," The Hokage was getting irritated with how this was going, the blond wanted to hear it, he begged it out of him, but now he denies it?

"No fire!" Naruto screamed.  
"What?" This statement caught Nidashi off guard.  
"There was no fire!" Naruto repeated in the correct manor.  
"What are you talking about"  
"There was no fire! Nidashi-san was sleeping!" He threw himself onto the ground, "he was sleeping..." he whispered, playing the events back in his head.

The Third stood up and frowned, "they said the children would never see, they assured me of their safety," the Hokage picked up the blond and wrapped him in a blanket, "were going on a visit"  
"Nidashi?" Naruto's eyes lit with hope.  
"No," He didn't have the time to play twenty questions, he had said all that he could.  
"No! I don't want to!" Naruto began to kick around and the Third placed the child down.  
"Fine then, you stay here, I will be back," he smiled at the blond and placed a hand on his head.

Before Naruto could say anything, the Hokage was gone, "don't lock that door, take care of him," he ordered the young girl who was still standing in the hallway, she had heard everything. But that didn't make any difference, that monster was still a part of him, what struck her the most was how he reacted to the old man's death, as if he wasn't used to killing millions of people. The nurse shook her head and walked into the hospital room where Nartuo was standing in the middle, with every step her body shook and her mind raced. What would she do if he attacked her? What the hell was the Hokage thinking by not ordering ANBU guards or something?

"H-how do you feel?"

Naruto frowned at the woman, he didn't like her, for some reason, he just didn't like her. He said nothing, he didn't utter a word, but he was covered in sweat and a chill suddenly arose from inside his body. Actually now that the Third was gone, his mind went from being angry, to focusing on his condition.

Yep, this was definitely not her day, and there was no other way she knew to take the boy's temperature except to feel his head. She gulped and looked at the frowning child. Child? This was no child! This was the demon who stole the peace from their village, who stole half their land and resources, who slaughters thousands. She would not be deceived by a demon. Of course, it had to be controlling the mind of their Hokage, he even made a rule to never speak of it under penalty of death.

"You think you have it all worked out don't you?" The nurse held something in her voice that he had not heard directly since that woman, the one who locked him in that room. He glared deeper at her.  
"Just look at your eyes..." she began to tremble, "I wont be fooled by you"  
She ran from the room as fast as she could, leaving the feverish blond behind, un-touched.

What was that? It was worse in this lady then it was in the last. He had never seen such fear shaken by anger, but what was she scared of? What was she talking about when she said that she wouldn't be fooled? By who? Him? But why would he want to fool her? He doesn't even know her! All he wanted right now was Nidashi and standing around wasn't going to bring him to the blond, so he left the room through the door that the nurse didn't bother closing.

**xoxoxox**

When the Third reached the Aburame estate it was dark and looked very deserted. But he was no fool, the sun had just set and he was sure that everyone would be up. He jumped the gate and strolled up the dark path. When he reached the main entrance he almost began to knock, but decided that a surprise visit would probably be best. He tried to slide the door open but of course, it was locked. He closed his eyes and performed a few hand seals, within a second the door gently slid open and the Hokage then proceeded inside, there were two places he would have to visit tonight, and the first one was Mujaki.

He was surprised at how everything was so quiet and how no one had seen him yet. As he left the main house and wandered into the gardens, he examined every detail of the place. This had to be where it happened, he then adverted his attention to the back of Mujaki's house, where still, every light was off, except for one very dim light coming from the left corner. Well, this would make everything easier, for while, he was really beginning to believe that the entire compound was asleep.

He reached the back door, and again, found it locked. He performed the same hand seals and it lightly slid open. As he entered the small house, he whispered the man's name, "Mujaki?" But got no reply. Most of the house was dark so he figured Shino was asleep, "better keep this as quiet as possible," he whispered to himself as he neared the hallway, closing the door gently behind him.

When he entered the last room on the right of the hallway, he found it half open with a dim light bearing through it, "Mujaki?" He began to open the door when the large Aburame slammed it open, "who's there!" But was startled to see the Third, he furrowed his eye brows and went back to what he was doing, packing.

"How have you been, my friend?" The Hokage said with a tad of worry in his voice, although it was hard to tell.  
"You can say that so easily, friend," Mujaki simply stated, but didn't bother looking at him.  
A moment of silence fell over them, "how is Shino"  
"How do you think?" He zipped his bag, why was the Third here? Did the old man think they could stop him?  
The Hokage sighed and shook his head, "I am truly sorry Mujaki, I wish that it didn't turn out like this"  
The tall man said nothing, but stared at the Hokage with anger, where the hell was he when all of this was going on?  
"I am not here to fight with you..." The Third pulled out a sealed piece of paper and extended it for Mujaki to take.

For a minute the man hesitated, what could possibly be written there? They couldn't arrest him, he had done nothing wrong, and why would the Hokage personally deliver a mission in the middle of the night in his home? He took the paper from the Hokage's hands and stared at it for a while before opening it. After reading, he looked up with confusion, "I don't understand"  
"I couldn't save your wife Mujaki, but I can save your son," the Third smiled and bowed a bit, "you have been given leave from this village for five years, go where you will."

"What about my son?" He dare not fall into this trap, they were stupid if they thought that they could separate him and his son.  
"You must take your son, or you will not go at all, but you must leave now," the Third gestured to the door.  
"I understand," he grabbed his things and ran out the room, the Third followed him to his son's room and as they left the small house, Muajki bowed, "I am greatly sorry for my harsh words, thank you," and then he was gone.

**xoxoxox**

At the Konoha Hospital, Naruto wandered the hallways in search for Nidashi, ignoring the gasps and whispers around him, his head was swimming and everything still swirled all around him, "Nidashi..." he grabbed on a doorknob and lowered himself down to sit a bit while everything slowed down. He watched the passing legs, listened to the murmurs of demons and scary things which he would rather not think about while the entire world around him spinned.

He closed his eyes trying to get rid of the dizziness, when the darkness wouldn't go away and once again, he found himself falling.

**xox To Be Continued xox**

_**Reveiw Replies:**_

**Griffin D. Sage:** I am relived that the last chapter wasn't rushed...Ive been kinda worrying about that. And Aishiteru means 'I love you' in japanese...Ai means love...there is an Anime show called, 'Aishiteru ze baby' about a little three year old girl its a cute show...Ai is the romantic, personal love...while Daisuki means 'love'...but not a personal...you would use this when you are talking about an item or someone you like...it is a love...but more on the 'like' side. If you were going to tell someone for the first time that you like them...then you might use 'Daisuki,' but if you were really going to confess your true love, most likely you would pull out the 'Aishiteru.' (uh...if im not accurate on any of this, please let me know...)

_**Narutofreak22:**_ Im happy you enjoyed the story and I hope you return for the up-coming chapters

**DarkGaara:** Thank you, I'm relieved by everyone's responses. After reading your own work over five times, you begin to wonder if its even any good. Sometimes you think, 'should I just delete all of this?' So I put it away for two days and re-read it...again! By this time I was soo anxious to post it up, it had already been a month since I updated it, so I put it on...chaper 7 was a very serious chapter in which allot of stuff comes together, so I wanted it to be perfect...sadly it wasn't, but I was happy to see it turned out pretty good. As for the Aburame's...yes they are evil sadistic people...well really just the elders. When you 'run' a clan, like sheep, the entire clan must follow and agree with everything the 'elder,' does. But later on...when more chapters come out, you will see that the Aburame clan is really quite good and peaceful compared to some of the other ones...just think about the Hyuuga clan, and god only knows about the Uchiha.

**enchiladas**__ Good points...but, they had their reasoning for doing what they did...Konoha and the 'Ninja' way is not all sunshine and happiness...watch episode 10, in my opinion, burning Kaiwa at the steak was allot more humane then having a flock of crows tear her to shreds...but that's my opinion And yes it is sad that Shino's father was too weak to hold back ten big Abruame men, but after the pole was set...what could he do? If they all ran away, they would eventually get caught by some ANBU, Mujaki has a five year old son and a wife who cant use chakara, it would be impossible to outrun a fleet of ANBU. At least this way, he can keep his son...and yes Naruto whines... I make Naruto kind of a cry baby cause im trying to keep it as cannon as possible, do you remember when Kakashi was talking to Inari in mist...a few episodes before Haku dies? How Kakashi tells Inrai about Naruto and how at 12 years old he's probably tired of crying? for one thing, Naruto is watching a woman die...he hardly has the brain space to think about himself, he doesn't know that the Kyuubi was sealed in him. As a child his age you cant even grasp the meaning of hate, he has yet to learn that lesson. The 'never giving up' has already started, he has a strong head and once he decides something, it takes a while for it to change. I took him nearly a year for him to get it in his head that he was not going to stay with Nidashi. This fic is about him becoming the Naruto we all know, but it takes time, he needs reasons to be the way he is...I hope I cleared up some things for ya...Let me know if I left anything out

**WolvenTerror:** Shino for now...but not for long, Shino is not the only one Naruto meets and encounters in the fic. Shino was a main char for quite a while because he was the only one around his age that he could converse with. But now that Naruto is never allowed in the Aburame estate, things will change a bit from now on. I am surprised though that you never really see Shino anywhere...although he's a bit hard to write, he keeps to himself and never really says anything unless its absolutely necessary. The times that I have found him in fics, I love the way people portray him.

**Surarrin:** Is this a good interesting...or a bad interesting? hehe. No assassination attempts yet...well, none that we know of Didn't mean to fool ya there hehe it wasn't my intention.

**Kanemoshi: **yes, evil people! They are all...evil people, laughs maniacally with hands risen in air I would have to agree with most people, if I was in Mujaki's shoes, I would un-leash some terrible stuff on those Aburame elders...but I needed to keep Shino's dad clean...like he was in the show...so I sent him away for five years! sweatdrop I just really couldn't imagine Mujaki slaughtering a bunch of old guys

**Krows Scared:** thanks! Im sorry no elders ass will be kicked...BUT I will assure you that they will get what's coming to them, oh yes, they will get what's coming to them rubs hands together while narrowing eyes


	9. Three For One

**Disclaimer**... I do not own Naruto...Never did...Never will...sigh.  
**Written by**... Treina (Angel Crack)

**Names**.  
**Nidashi** . Old Man (who brought Naurto the chair)  
**Mujaki** . Shino's Dad  
**Kaiwa** . Shino's Mom

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

**Aishiteru Naruto**

**Chapter 9- Three for One**

**Naruto - Age: four**  
**Hinata- Age: four**  
**Neji- Age: five**

**Note:** The japanese word '_Hai_' means '_yes_' in japanese...for those who might not know.

It was past ten when Hokage caught sight of the hospital. The night air quickly grew cold and he welcomed the warmth as it filled his lungs when he stepped foot inside the building. He walked right up to the desk and was about to say something to the woman sitting behind it when a whisper caught his ear.

"Did you see that kid on level three"  
"No, I didn't"  
"He was passed out on the floor and no one would touch him, and to think that this was a hospital?"

The Third stopped still in his tracks, hoping to god that it wasn't Naruto they were talking about, he whirled around in the lady's direction, "did he have blond hair?"

The woman was drawn back by the sudden outburst in the Hokage, "Uh...yes I think so...he looked to be about three or four years old, poor thi-" but he was gone, he ran up the stairs as fast as he could, level three, level three.

When he reached the third floor and went out into the hallway, he noticed a crowd of people standing around in a big huddle all talking among themselves. When he arrived in the crowd, everyone silenced themselves and moved out of the way. The Third was relieved to see that the boy was fine, just exhausted and his fever made no improvement.

He picked the child up and turned around, glaring at everyone, "its just a child," he said matter of factly.  
"But Hokage-sama!" One person cried from the crowd, wanting to share the reason why they all fear that...thing.  
"I don't want to hear anymore, he is a child, nothing more."

He began to walk to Naruto' room and no one followed. When he placed the boy back in his bed, he shook his head, what alot of work, why would fate take the life of Nidashi right after taking the life of Kaiwa?

While the Third was pondering this and more un-known questions, he turned around to see a little girl standing in the hallway with her hands behind her back. When the little girl saw that she was noticed, she blushed and hid herself in the hallway.

It was the Hokage! The Hokage! What would she say? What could she say? She didn't even have the right to be in his presence let alone talk to him! Her stomach tossed and turned due to all the nervousness, maybe she would pass out! She shook her head, no, that wouldn't make a good first impression on the strongest shinobi in the village, what would her father think?

"Hyuuga Hinata?" The Third asked with a smile while entering into the hallway.  
Hinata looked up with wide eyes, "hai!" she made sure that her spine was strait and she only looked forward, she wasn't sure what would happen if she looked him strait in the eyes.

"Are you here to see Naruto"  
The little blue haired girl blushed and diverted her eyes down to the floor, "I-I heard he got hurt..." she talked in a bare whisper, if you didn't have trained ears there was no way you would have been able to hear her.  
"He is doing fine," the Third smiled and placed a hand on her head, "this way," and lead her into the room.

Sleeping in front of her, was Naruto, his hair glistening in the sunlight making him look like an angel. In her hands, behind her back, was a flower. It was a delicate yellow flower with soft petals and spiky edges. She picked this one because it reminded her of the boy's hair. Hinata lightly blushed as she placed the flower into the empty vase that sat next to his bed. She stared at him for a long while, yet the time had only felt like a few seconds before the Hokage came and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"You should go, its getting late...but you can come back tomorrow, he might be awake by then," Hinata who was already blushed due to the fact that she had totally forgotten about the Hokage watching her every move, was now saddened, she wouldn't be able to return tomorrow, her uncle or something like that was coming back from his journey and it was absolutely required that everyone attend, so she would get no time to run about and play.

The Hokage guided the child out of the room, feeling sorry for doing so, but a spark of joy went through his heart when he saw the Hyuuga girl here to see Naruto. "The children is your only hope," he whispered to the sleeping boy before leaving the room himself.

**xoxoxox**

Hyuuga Hinata descended the last stair of the three stories she had climbed in order to see Naruto, but was startled to see her father standing in the entrance doorway looking at her with angry, disapproving eyes. She bowed her head and walked his way, when she reached him, his voice seemed to bellow through her soul.  
"What are you doing here Hinata"  
She didn't look up, "I-I wanted to see Naruto..." So quiet.  
Her father looked at her disapprovingly, "let's go home"  
She nodded and followed her father out of the door, but when she looked up behind her and saw Naruto's window, the flower the only visible thing, she smiled.

**xoxoxox**

The Hokage spent his night making sure that if any of the hospital staff did not start doing their jobs properly, he would deal with them properly, no one wanted to get details on that order, so they all promised they would start doing their best.

Satisfied, he returned to Naruto's room to find the boy still sleeping. He pulled up a chair and slowly dozed off into the early morning hours.

As soon as the sun peaked above the Hokage Monument, Naruto woke up with a painful hunger filling his stomach, he turned his head to the side and saw the Hokage sleeping next to his bed. Taking no chances, he decided he wouldn't wait to wake him up, "ne!" He stood up on his bed and shook the Hokage, waking him with a start.

"Oh, Naruto," the Hokage yawned and blinked his eyes, attempting to wake up.  
"Im hungry," the blond wined, pulling on the Third's robes.  
"Okay, I'll go get you something..." he stood up, eyes still closed...he may still have been sleeping, and walked out of the room to get Naruto some food.

Naruto, who was sitting up in bed, noticed a wonderful smell when the wind blew in through the window. It was a gentle sweet smell, alot like the secret spring, only even more gentle. He traced the smell with his nose and found a flower, it was a pretty flower, a bright yellow with a tad of darkness to it on the inside. He placed his nose close to it and took a deep breath in, "pretty," he said with amusement before hearing a faint giggle coming from behind.

He whirled around to see the little girl from the other day, she said her name was Hinata, but she was all dressed up today, totally spotless. She wore an all black formal kimono, but the black was a deep rich color and her hair was combed down nicely. She giggled for a second longer and then looked at the boy, "Hi!" She said waving and then dashed off with a slight blush.

As she ran out of the hospital smiling, her heart raced against her chest, it was wonderful that Naruto liked her flower, but she couldn't be happier about his condition, he looked one hundred percent better then he did the night before, so at least now, she wouldn't have to worry...too much.

**xoxoxox**

Naruto jumped off his bed in attempt to chase her down, why was she laughing at him? But when he reached the hallway and looked down both ways, she was gone.  
"Naruto, what are you doing?" The Third asked with a tray in his hands, "your going to have to learn to stay in your room," he guided the child back to his room and placed the tray of food on the bed.

The smell of food overpowered the light, gentle smell of the flower and Naruto began to feel the pains of his hunger once again. He jumped back up on the bed and finished all the food. By this time, the sun was behind several clouds and the smell of wet rain filled the air.  
"So how do you feel?" The Third placed a hand on the child's forehead, "your fever has broke"  
"Im fine!" Naruto said with a faded smile, "where is Nidashi-san?"

The Hokage frowned, "we talked about this yesterday," he walked over to the window and closed it shut, knowing that rain would start any second.  
"But I want to see Nidashi-san!" Naruto held anger in his voice, he glared at the Third.  
"Stop it Naruto," he had enough, if the child would not take the truth for truth there was nothing he could do about it.  
"People die Naruto, it's the way of the world, you will have to deal with it," he stared out the window, wishing just as much as Naruto that his old friend had not died.

Naruto bit his lip and kept his glare fixed on the old man, but the Third ignored it, "I have things I need to do, I will be back later," he walked over to the door and looked at Naruto with sadness in his eyes, "you stay in this room," he ordered and shut the door.

Naruto sat for a long while staring out the window at the gray clouds that filled the sky, and as the first rain drops fell, he saw someone he knew in the distance. It was that little girl with the blue hair, only she was with a bunch of other people and there was another kid around her age dressed in the same manner, standing right in front of her.

For a while they all continued to stand in the rain, "how weird," Naruto said to himself.  
The tall man standing next to Hinata bowed, then gestured to the building on their right, they all proceeded to enter and were not seen the rest of that day. For hours Naruto watched for their exit, but they never made one.

Soon the Third came back with more food, "how are you feeling"  
"Im fine..." the blond pouted on the bed as the food was placed in front of him.  
While he was eating, the Third decided he would talk to Naruto about some things, "Naruto," Naruto looked up from his tray, "your going to have to stay here for a while until we find somewhere you can go," Naruto nodded his head, but stopped, why couldn't he go with the Third? Was he not going to be staying with Shino anymore? And what about Nidashi, where the hell is Nidashi!

So what? Was he expected to stay in this room every day, all day and do nothing? Why was he even here in the first place? Why was the Third here? He wasn't there when Kaiwa needed him or when he couldn't wake up Nidashi, why would he be here now? It had been so long since the Hokage had been around, Naruto tried to trace his memory of all the events that past, but so many of them were blank, gone, like gaps in time.

The Third knew that this plan would not last, what was Naruto going to do? Live at the Konoha Hospital? And the problem was, he is still so young.  
"Im going to get your things, do you want to come?" He figured a change in subject and activity would be the best.

At first, Naruto was going to shake his head and pout, but thought better of it when he remembered that he had spent all day in this room. He nodded his head slightly and followed the Third out of the room. Immediately, the Hokage began to talk about random happy things that really didn't have anything to do with anything and soon he got Naruto talking. The blond went on and on about the little girl who laughed at him this morning and how she had disappeared and then reappeared outside of the building with alot of other people. The Third was surprised, he figured that the young Hyuuga Hinata would not come back today, considering this was the day that her uncle was to return to the village, oh no... "That was today?"

Naruto raised an eyebrow and the Hokage smiled, that was the first time he had seen that facial expression and he couldn't help but laugh a tiny bit.

Naruto furrowed his eyebrows and glared, why was everyone always laughing at him? "We will have to make a another stop," the Third said to himself, turning around and continuing down the hallway, he couldn't believe that he forgot until just a second ago, this was the day, the day Hizashi would return with his son, the Hyuuga prodigy, Hinata's betrothed and future heir. And he forgot? They will not be pleased...

Naruto walked far behind the Third, still mad about the old man laughing at him, its not like he did anything to cause the outburst in the Third...he didn't even say anything!  
"Hurry up Naruto," he called from the end of the hallway, stopping to let the boy catch up, goodness, at this pace it would be midnight before they would reach the Hyuuga estate. But Naruto could care less, its not like they were going to see Nidashi, he was so worked up on that one sentence that he didn't notice the stares and whispers, which was good, he hated the constant whispering of demons and murder and all those things attributed to hate. It scared him too much to admit.

When Naruto caught up to the Third, he was picked up and carried the rest of the way. When they got to the desk, the Third grabbed his things and dressed him under two minutes, it was already past ten and the Hyuuga's were a very strict people. He rushed out the hospital doors with Naruto in his arms, sprinting through the rain, not wanting the child to get wet, he had just recovered from a fever and being soaked in cold rain water wouldn't help his recovery.

Naruto smiled when the Third sped up and felt refreshed when the rain droplets hit his face, when he opened his mouth, attempting to get some inside, he noticed there was no more rain, they were under the protection of an outside wooden roof, the Third placed Naruto down and knocked on the doors in front of him. Naruto stared at the huge wooden doors, little pictures of birds and things carved on its sides, it was beautiful.

The huge doors opened, and a very tall pale man with long pitch black hair stood before them, when the man noticed that it was the Hokage he welcomed them inside and called for Hiyashi and his brother. While they waited, Naruto couldn't believe how big the place was, the ceiling was so high and the rooms were so spacious, it was like a palace or something. He couldn't help but feel tiny, like he was a bug, so small and helpless. He didn't like it here.

Soon four people entered the room where they were sitting, it was Hiyashi, Hinata, Hizashi and his child. The Third arose and walked over to the four of them with arms open, "it is a joyous occasion that you have returned! I am truly sorry that I am late, its been an...eventful week," Hizashi and the Third embraced for a moment before he lowered himself to Neji's eye level, "welcome to the village of Konoha," he welcomed the child with a smile and a hand on the head, "just remember, we are all your family," he winked and Neji smiled.

"We were just about to have some tea," Hiyashi gestured to the other room.  
Hinata was already blushing due to the sight of the blond and wasn't sure what she would do when the adults left to do what they usually do... There were two boys on both sides of her and she couldn't be more nervous, one of them intimidated her while the other made her blush and act stupid, what would she do when the three of them were left in the room together?

She didn't even have time to think about that before the adults left and there they were, all three of them left in the same room together, she burned holes in the floor by her feet with her eyes for a long while before anyone said anything.  
"Hinata?" Naruto asked, not entirely sure if that really was her name.  
"Uh, Hai?" Hinata was startled by the sudden calling of her name.

Naruto smiled and nodded, it was her name, but who was that boy standing next to her? He carried the same eyes but looked more pale due to his black long hair that hung in this strings around his face. Neji stared at the blond, carrying no expression on his face, who was this child that made his cousin act so strange? He looked strange! What was with the obnoxious blond hair and those lines on his face? Neji soon decided that the only thing you could compare this child to, was a yellow cat. He remembered seeing one in the streets of the last village they were in.

"Who are you?" Naruto asked, pointing a finger at the boy who was twice his size.  
Neji raised an eyebrow, "its rude"  
"Huh?" Naruto cocked his head to the side in confusion.  
"Its rude to ask someone their name before giving yours first," Neji spoke in a stoic voice.  
"Im Uzumaki Naruto!" Hinata smiled at the memory of a few days ago when the blond said his name to her in the same proud tone.  
"Uzumaki, ka?" Neji raised an eye brow one more time while looking him up and down, he still looks like a yellow cat.

"Hinata!" Naruto cried, turning his attention to the girl.  
"Hai?" She looked up at the boy who was running at her full speed.  
"Hinata! The coolest thing happened! After you disappeard, I smelled something really really good! So I traced the smell with my nose and it lead me to the prettiest yellow flower I ever seen in my life!" Naruto waved his arms around, gesturing his words.  
Hinata bent her head down so low that Naruto couldn't see her face and she turned red as a tomato, while tears un-controllably fell out of her eyes.

Neji glared at the blond, now he's making her cry?  
"Are you okay?" Naruto asked, not really understanding why the girl was crying.  
Hinata nodded and looked up, tears running down her face, but a smile beamed through her tears, "Im happy"  
"Your happy?" Naruto didn't understand, if she was happy, then why in all the gods name would she cry?  
"Hai, Im happy," her smile grew wider and a light blush caressed her face.

Neji furrowed his eyebrows, why is she crying if she's happy? Or is she lying? He shot a glare at the blond, "what did you do"  
"What?" Naruto was confused, he didn't do anything.  
"What did you do to make her cry?" Neji clenched his fists, what was this anger?  
"No! He didn't do anything! Im happy...I was happy!" Hinata grabbed her cousins wrist and looked up at him with pleading eyes, "please"  
If there was one thing in this world that scared her more then her own father, was Neji, even at his age, his skill was impressive. She had watched him spar his father and he was amazing.

Neji looked at Hinata and went back to his stoic form, but didn't say anything. "I really am happy," Hinata smiled at her cousin and then faced Naruto who was now, even more confused, "I'm sorry," she bowed slightly and Naruto backed up, "uh...its okay..." why would she bow to him? No one had ever bowed to him...no one really ever apologized to him either. Neji was taken back at Hinata's actions as well, the longer he stayed here, the more this girl appealed to him, she was so cute, a slight blush fell onto his cheeks.

She raised herself and smiled at the blond while putting her finger near her lips in attempt to block the smile.  
"Are you feeling better?" Hinata asked, wanting to change the subject.  
Naruto nodded and began to run his mouth again, "after I found the flower I looked outside and I saw you and you," he pointed to Neji, "and a bunch of other people standing outside and then it started to rain and then you all went inside...I watched for you guys to leave for a long time before I ate..." he pondered on what he was going to say next.

"Why would we stay out in the rain?" Neji was curious what made the blond possibly think they would return back to the front entrance...in the rain.  
Naruto thought about that question for a while before giving up on it and he turned back to Hinata, "the mystery is, how did the flower get there"  
Hinata bit her lower lip, should she tell him it was her who placed the flower there?

"That is not a mystery," Neji proclaimed, "I watched Hinata buy a yellow flower this morning"  
Hinata's eyes widened, "no...anou"  
"Hinata?" Naruto asked, pointing at her.  
"Yes, more then likely it was her," Secretly, he was proud that he had just solved the mystery.

There was a small time of silence before, "thanks Hinata"  
"Uh...your welcome..." her words were small, silent, like the time when she told him her name.  
Naruto made a weird face at Hinata, trying to make out the words that he half heard.

**xoxoxox**

In the other room, the Third, Hiyashi and his twin brother Hizashi all sat at a table savoring the hot tea. The Hokage just finished his story of Kaiwa, the Aburame clan and how Nidashi died right after when out of nowhere, Hiyashi whispered, "three for one"  
Only his brother knew what the words meant, he frowned, "who is the third"  
Hiyashi turned to the Hokage, "there is a rumor that death comes in three, if one person dies, you should expect that two other people you know to perish not soon after," he explained.

Interesting, he had never heard such a rumor, it surprised him. But so far there were only two deaths that he knew of, "you know of a third"  
Hiyashi frowned, "earlier I was searching for my daughter and I came across the Aburame estate, when I past, I was summoned to the head elder. Wondering what business he had with me, I went to him and found him dying"  
This confused the Hokage, he was there a few days ago and the man was fine, nothing wrong with him. He frowned and rested his head on his hands, attempting to think.

"This does not look good for Mujaki," Hizashi pointed out.  
"I examined the elder and found that he was poisoned, but the poison was administered too early and there was nothing I could do, he will be lucky if fate does not take him tonight," but he knew as well as everyone else, that luck didn't exist.  
"Why did you not call for a med team?" The Third was upset that he had not heard of this sooner.  
"When he found out that there was nothing I could do, the old man refused to have a med team sent, he didn't want to be moved..." Hiyashi glared, retracing the events in his mind.

"You can send a team tomorrow, he should be gone by then," Hiyashi's last statement sounded like his last statement and the Third got up to leave, not happy with the turn of events. What would he do with Mujaki? Send someone after him? They don't have any proof what so ever that he was the one who poisoned the head Aburame elder, although he had every incentive and all the means...no, he would have to wait the five years and then put the Aburame under trail.

As the Hokage entered the main room, he walked in on Naruto and Neji arguing, while Hinata stood in tears, "what's going on here?" Hiyashi demanded, looking directly into Neji's eyes. Everyone stopped where they were and looked at the stunned Hyuuga boy who had Naruto's shirt clenched in his fists.

"He-" Naruto began but was cut off, "I didn't ask you, now tell me boy, what is going on"  
Hyuuga Neji gulped, "he made Hinata cry sir..." he let go of Naruto's shirt and straitened his back. He stared at Hiyashi for a long while with his stoic face.  
Hiyashi sighed and turned to the Third, "forgive me for the rudeness"  
The Third smiled and waved it off, it was just a child's brawl, nothing more. He walked over to Naruto and picked him up, "come on Naruto, its time to get back," he bid Hiyashi farewell and left the house.

The rain had let up considerably and only scarce, small drops of water fell from the sky...and everything was wet.  
"What was all that about?" The Third asked Naruto who was in his arms and getting way to big to be carried around like a baby. He set the child down and waited for an answer.

"I don't know," Naruto stated innocently, shrugging his shoulders. The Third shot him a look of disbelief.  
"I was telling Hinata about the flower, then she started to cry and then that Neji kid got all mad," he shook his head and sighed in the same way that Hiyashi did,  
"there just weird people...what can you do?" and then looked up with a smile on his face.  
"Hmm..." the Hokage still held dis-belief in his eyes, but decided not to push the subject, it didn't really matter anyway.

Half way to the hospital, Naruto tugged on the Third's sleeve, "Ne..." he stopped and looked down, embarrassed, "I don't look like a cat...right?" As he finished his question, Naruto looked up with teary eyes, "I don't look like a cat"  
"No Naruto," the third said with a reassuring smile, "you don't look like a cat at all"  
The blond smiled and continued walking, acting as if he had completely forgotten the subject.  
"I will try and find you a place to stay tomorrow, until then, you will have to stay in the hospital," the Third figured the blond had the right to know where he would be staying. Naruto already knew this, but he was happy that the Third was finding him a different place, it was too white at the place he was in now.

That night, once again, he had the dream about falling and awoke in the middle of the night due to the heavy lightning outside. He stared around the room for a minute until his eyes adjusted and caught sight of the Third. For a while he watched the Third sleep, remembering when Nidashi fell asleep and never woke up, where is Nidashi? Why would no one allow him see the old man? Just then, a light bulb went off in Naruto's head, tomorrow, when the Third was out, the blond would sneak out of the hospital and go look for the kind old man, maybe he came home. Naruto could just picture Nidashi sitting on his porch, waving with that gentle smile.

With that, the blond laid back down and fell asleep, forgetting everything about falling and keeping his mind on his plan to find Nidashi.

The next morning was no different then the last, only the rain was more heavy and could be heard pattering on the roof and windows, yet everything was so calm, so mellow. The smell however, was of food and that made Naruto's eyes open and his body sit up to see what the wonderful aroma was. There in front of him, was a big bowl of ramen with all kinds of wonderful looking things inside. His eyes watered with delight, he had never seen anything so beautiful in his life...not counting the secret place of course.

At once, Naruto began to slurp the food, inhaling it like it was air. The Third was able to sneak away and get out of the hospital, making sure everyone understood their duty. Today he would find a place for Naruto to stay if it killed him. For the first couple hours he tried all the big clans and worked his way down, but no one would take the child in, especially after what happened with the Aburame clan.

By the end of the day, he had pretty much searched the entire village fore someone who would take this poor child, he never knew that his people, the people of Konoha were so cruel and cold hearted. What was he going to do? Naruto couldn't live in that hospital and as Hokage, he had no time to be raising a single four year old. He leaned up against a brick wall and looked up at the orange and purple sky, but the building from across the road caught his attention.

He had already checked about everyone that lived there, but while he was looking, he noticed a few vacant apartments. He strode up to the owner, who was cleaning things up, "I have noticed that you have a few vacant rooms"  
The woman nodded and smiled, knowing that the village Hokage might be thinking about moving in, although she never heard any word of him changing location.  
"Good, you have a new customer," he placed the money on the table and looked at the keys hanging up behind her, "get number 19 ready within the next hour," he informed with a smile.

The woman nodded and grabbed the money along with the key and hurried up the stairs to get the room ready. She couldn't believe that the Hokage, the strongest nin in the village was going to be staying here from now on. There was nothing she would ever have to worry about anymore. She was so exited, she even put a batch of cookies that she baked that morning on his kitchen counter as a home warming gift. But as she was leaving, the cookies were almost too much, should she take them off the counter? Would he think that she was trying to buy her way into keeping his stay permanent? She shrugged, she had already placed the cookies there, might as well leave them there. She looked over the apartment one more time to make sure everything was clean and then left, locking the door behind her.

**xoxoxox**

The Third entered Naruto's room to, once again, find him missing. He walked up to the bed and looked around the room, trying to get an indication of where the blond could be. He looked to his left and out the window, the rain had let up and the sun made its way through the clouds making a refreshing warmth in everything. He looked down onto the green grass below the hospital and there, down in a small sand pit, Naruto was playing contently by himself, trying to make a mountain...or castle...or something.

The Hokage sighed with relief, making his way down and out of the hosptial, he joined Naruto for a while at the small sandbox.  
"Hey, Naruto"  
Naruto looked up with his bright blue eyes.  
"How would you like to have your own place to live?" His heart raced a thousand miles per hour, "It would be just like an adult..." there was tenshin in his voice, was he really doing the right thing? Sending a four year old to live by himself? The child was independent already, and he would make sure to stop in three or four times a day to make sure he got fed. Other than that, what would a four year old need? He has his family, the village is his family... he tried to convince himself that everything he was doing was right.

Naruto thought about it for a while and decided it sounded like it might be fun, it would be easyer to sneak out to look for Nidashi if he wasnt in this hospital. Naruto nodded his head, he liked the idea.  
"Okay, lets go get the rest of your things and get you moved in"  
Naruto jumped up exitedly and took hold of the Thirds hand.

**xoxoxox _To Be Continued_ xoxoxox**

**Reveiw Replies**:

**Krows Scared**: sadly no, Naruto will not be going with Shino, sob I could think of some great things that could happen if they did though It's a great idea! thousands of plot bunnies begin to fill head

**it rained**: I really didn't think there was that much angst thinks really hard It was what I was going for, but I figured I had failed. I needed some really bad/sad things to happen to Naruto as a child...and this was the perfect age, it goes along perfectly with my plans grins evily But I will promise you that there will more fluffy, cute things to come, I agree with you, everything isn't drama and angst.


	10. The First Journey

**Disclaimer**... I do not own Naruto...Never did...Never will...sigh.  
**Written by**... Treina (Angel Crack)****

Names.  
_**Nidashi**_ . Old Man (who brought Naurto the chair)  
**_Mujaki_ **. Shino's Dad  
_**Kaiwa**_ . Shino's Mom 

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

**Aishiteru Naruto**

**Chapter 10- The First Journey**

Naruto - Age: four  
Hinata- Age: four  
Neji- Age: five  
Sasuke- Age: four 

As both Naruto and the Hokage made their way to the child's new apartment, the Third was pleased to see that the owner had already retired into her own quarters and the key was still behind the counter waiting for him.

"Perfect," he turned to the boy, "come on Naruto, follow me," he grabbed the key and headed up the stars to the second floor.

He watched the numbers that were crudely marked on the doors until he reached number 19 and then proceeded to unlock it, placing Naruto's things on the ground while he did so. Naruto didn't say a word, he was thinking up and re-making his entire escape plan, he briefly wondered how long the Hokage would linger around, in the worst case, until Naruto would fall asleep...he might have to fake sleep.

When the Hokage opened the door and walked in, Naruto followed. The smell of chocolate chip cookies filled the air and the first thing that Naruto laid eyes on, were the cookies sitting on the table with a small note that sat next to them. The Third walked up to the letter and picked it up, reading the small scribble out loud, "I hope you enjoy these cookies and if anything is needed you can find me in room 102," he smiled slightly and folded the note, tucking it into his sleeve.

"Those cookies are for you Naruto, help yourself," he placed the cookies on the small table in the middle of the room and proceeded to unpack the blonde's things in the closet not far from the table.

Naruto watched his every move intently, wanting to know where everything was so that when he went off to look for Nidashi, he could get his things together quickly. He ate two or three cookies before deciding better on the next one, they were a bit too sweet. "Okay Naruto, time for bed," he dressed Naruto in his night clothes and lead him to his bed. Instantly, the blond closed his eyes and for a long while he pretended to sleep and the Third was no fool, he sat in a chair and watched the child until finally, Naruto fell asleep.

**xoxoxoxox**

When the sun arose the next morning, Naruto was surprised to see that he was the only one in the apartment. He got up and looked around for a bit, when he remembered something, he was supposed to go look for Nidashi last night! Maybe it was fate that led him to fall asleep, maybe if he went last night, something bad could have happened, mainly portraying to that demon fox everyone keeps talking about...

He shrugged his shoulders and walked to the closet, when the blond opened it, he realized it was a lot bigger then he expected. There were two bags hanging in the top right corner and Naruto tried to reach for the smaller one, but he was way too short and wasn't even close.

He frowned, this isn't going to work. He looked around for something that maybe he could stand on. But he saw nothing but the table that the cookies still sat on. A smile caught his lips, it would work perfect.

He dragged the table to the closet and jumped up onto it. He reached for the bag and could only touch the tip of it with his fingers. He jumped and grabbed hold of it, but as he came down with the bag, the entire shelf decided it would join him and soon he was under a pile of boxes and clothes.

He got up and began stuffing some of the clothes into his bag and then walked over to the table and stuffed some cookies in it as well. After looking around for things that he didn't have anyway, he left the apartment, leaving the door open.

As the blond walked happily down the street, stopping sometimes to look at all the goodies shown in the windows, he looked up at the clear blue sky. One thing was for sure, remembering all the rain that took place the day before, he couldn't be happier that it was a nice day. He spent about two hours just wandering around aimlessly, not really paying any attention to where he was going, just enjoying the cool breeze that swept his face.

Soon he found himself in front of the Hyuuga Manor and the gate was spread wide open. He stopped when he heard a familiar voice, it was that Hinata girl and she was laughing, it was a nice sound. Naruto walked through the gate and found himself in a garden, although it was nothing like the gardens at the Aburame residence, the blond couldn't help but remember the image of Kaiwa, covered in flames...

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata called, waking Naruto from his small trace, she ran over to him with lightly pink cheeks and Neji arose to follow her.  
When she approached him, she noticed the bag on his back, "anou...are you going somewhere?" Just asking made her feel stupid.  
"Im looking for Nidashi-san!" Naruto declared.

Just then, a light bulb went off in his head, "ne Hinata-chan, do you want to come"  
"What?" She really wasn't sure if she heard him right.  
Neji raised an eyebrow, "why would we want to run around the village looking for some old guy"  
But Naruto continued as if Neji never uttered a word, "you know this village really good right?"

Hinata nodded, she did run around the village alot, but she got lost more times than not.  
"Good! You can be my guide, I need to get to Shino's house," he instructed the shaking girl.  
Who was Shino, she had never met anyone with a weird name like that, if she did, she would surely remember.

Neji frowned, "no," he stated bluntly.  
They both gave him a questioning look.  
"Father and Hiyashi-sama would not approve...we would get in trouble." He stated the obvious and was somewhat offended with the two, who were totally clueless. Was everyone in this world this idiotic?  
For a while Naruto stared at the stoic Hyuuga, but then looked back at Hinata, "I even have food!" He slipped the backpack off and shoved it in her face...way too close.

What was up with this kid? This was the second time he rudely ignored him. The young Neji vouched that if it were to happen again, this cat would get a good beating.

Hinata didn't know what to do, her cousin was right about father, he would be furious...but she couldn't even imagine how much fun she would have and the things she would see on their journey. It would be so much more exiting to go on a journey then sit around the house all day and train...or watch people train, it was all very boring to her.

But her as a guide? She wasn't so sure she could trust that...but how would you learn and figure it out without going out there and doing it.  
"Well? Will you come? Will you?" Naruto grew anxious from the silence, every minute he stood around, he wasted. And right before Neji was about to repeat his answer, Hinata nodded with a blush.

A smile beamed across Naruto's face and he took hold of Hinata's hand, "lets go"  
As the two ran out of the Hyuuga estate, Neji called Hinata's name and she looked back. She shook her head letting him know that there was nothing she could do at this point. Neji frowned and ran after the two, he sighed, "children..."

They all ran for a long time until there sense of direction was completely gone and when Neji began to think that they would all run forever, Naruto stopped and he was finally able to catch up. He had alot of time to think about what he was going to say.

"What are you doing?" The Hyuuga asked, getting both Naruto and Hinata's attention.  
"What are you trying to do by dragging the both of us out here! Your father is going to tan my hide!" Naruto looked at the boy with question. Why did this kid always talk like an adult? Was he an adult? He didn't look like it.  
"What are you looking at?" Neji glared at the blond.

Naruto walked up close to Neji and Hinata was hoping to the gods that this wouldn't turn into a fight.  
"Why do you ask so many questions? Why do you act like all the grown ups? How old are you?" Naruto cocked his head to the side waiting for an answer.  
Neji blushed, and looked to the side, "five"  
"What?" Naruto wasn't sure which question the Hyuuga was answering.  
"Im five!" He snapped and then bit his lip, blushing more. Hinata couldn't help but giggle.

Then he noticed that Naruto wasn't even paying attention to him, which he was half grateful, half irritated about. Neji looked over his shoulder to see what Naruto was looking at and noticed a boy dressed in all black standing behind some tree. Naruto marched right over, remembering the good things that happened when he did the same for Hinata. He spoke in a firm voice.

"Who goes there?" He tried to make it as deep as he could, imitating a voice he had heard on the radio.  
"Baka!" The boy answered back and Naruto frowned.  
"What!" He asked, not really wanting it to be repeated.  
"Baka!" The boy said, in the exact same tone.  
Neji couldn't help but intervene, "that's rude," he said in a tone that could automatically put a person below you.  
"Why don't you come out?" The Hyuuga said in a mocking gesture.  
Hinata preferred to stay back and watch, rather than participate.

The little boy wearing all back stepped out from behind the tree's, but he held a scowl on his face.  
Naruto gasped, "hey! I know you!" But then he frowned, remembering how the boy had stuck his tongue out at him.  
"What are you doing here?" Naruto asked, curious as to why the boy was spying on them.  
"I live here...baka!"

"Wow, you have a bad mouth!" Neji had never heard of such language used so easily.  
"My brother talks that way, but he's on a mission, so im watching the house. Why are you here"  
Neji did not like this kid and didn't like his brother any better and right when he was about to answer, Naruto chided in, "were going on a journey to find Nidashi"  
"Who?" Sasuke raised an eyebrow.  
"Nidashi-san!" Naruto repeated.

Sasuke looked at Neji, Neji shrugged, "who is that?" Sasuke asked, pointing of into the distance where a little girl with blue hair stood and watched.  
"Oh, that's Hinata-chan," Naruto waved and Hinata blushed, diverting her eyes to her feet.  
Sasuke frowned, "she's weird"  
"You don't even know her," Neji crossed his arms, she was the sweetest thing he had ever met, who was this kid?  
"Your the one who's weird," Neij smirked at his own comment.  
Sasuke glared at the tall kid in white, "well im not the one running around the village getting lost," Sasuke countered and stuck his tongue out.  
Neji's eyes widened before he stuck his nose up in the air and grabbed Naruto by the shirt, "lets go."

As Neji began to drag Naruto back up the road, Naruto stopped him, "hold on, I have an idea"  
Naruto ran back to the boy who was still standing behind the tree, "come with us"  
"What? No...I can't...my brother..." Sasuke was surprised the kid had asked him, was he stupid or something?  
"So what! This is a once in a lifetime chance!" Naruto clenched his fist, "im asking you to come on an amazing adventure!" He punched his fist into the air.

Neji's mouth almost dropped at the blonde's request, "we don't even know his name," the Hyuuga pointed out.  
"Uchiha Sasuke..." the boy trailed off, "and I will join you on this adventure thing...as long as you can get me back here before dinner, or father will get mad and have brother punish me."

"Your brother doesn't sound very nice," Neji suggested.  
"He's the best! You've never even seen him!" Sasuke began to get offended.  
"Then he must not be great if I've never seen him"  
"Be quiet!" Sasuke yelled, eye's narrowed.  
"Or what?" Neji asked with a raised eyebrow.

Sasuke pulled out two shuriken and threw them at the Hyuuga who pulled out his kunai and dodged them. Naruto watched in awe, what were those things they were using? They were so cool looking, and the way they used them, his eyes grew sparkle's as Hinara ran past him toward the two.  
"Stop! Please stop!" She pleaded.  
Neji stopped and looked Hianta's way for a second before dropping the kunai, standing strait with eyes forward, stoic.  
"Please forgive me Hinata-sama."

Everyone except for Hinata had a puzzled look on their face. Hinata smiled gently and walked up to Neji grabbing his hand and both kids stared into each others eyes for a minute before both Neji and Sasuke picked up their weapons and hid them back in their shirts. They all proceeded to walk down the road in silence with content minds, Neji and Hinata still holding hands.

"What's up with them?" Sasuke asked Naruto, yanking a thumb toward Hinata and Neji, who were on the other side of him.  
Naruto shrugged his shoulders, "I donno, their weird, you should see their dads"  
Hinata, who was on the very end, farthest away from Naruto, bent her head down low with a sad look on her face and let Neji's hand go. Neji frowned, "what's wrong? Are you okay?" Neji asked Hinata, turning his head to her.  
"No," Hinata said simply in a low tone, head still down.

They walked for around a half an hour, passing shops and other homes, everything was so big! Naruto ran ahead and turned around toward Hinata, walking backwards, "Hey Hinata, do you know where we are?"

Hinata blushed and looked around, then looked as far as she could see, (which was a great distance considering she was of Hyuuga blood,) "well, I don't really know where we are, but there's a four way intersection up that way, "she pointed strait ahead and everyone looked in the direction she was pointing, squinting their eyes.  
"I don't see it," Sasuke commented.  
Neji nodded his head, "its there, just to far for you to see"  
Sasuke glared at the Hyuuga, not liking the tone of his voice. Actually, he didn't like the kid altogether.

The four of them continued their way until they reached the intersection, this is where Naruto began to get antsy. He began to run around the square looking down each one, "which way should we go?" He kept asking himself.  
Hinata tugged on her cousins sleeve to get his attention, "what's wrong"  
The Hyuuga girl blushed and stood on her tiptoes to whisper something in his ear. Sasuke diverted his eyes in their direction, but he couldn't make out what she was telling him.

Neji nodded his head and turned on his Byakugan for a moment.

Sasuke took a step back, his heart skipped a beat, what the hell was that?  
"We go this way," Neji pointed out in a orderly tone and began walking in that direction, not caring if the two were going to follow or not.  
"Wait up!" Naruto called and ran to catch up.  
Sasuke wasn't sure what to do, this was getting weirder and weirder, who was that kid? Was he a monster? He had half a mind to turn around and go back home, he wasn't sure if he liked the idea of getting lost with...that thing. The image of the Byakugan was fresh in his mind, as if the kid were here doing it again right in front of him.

Naruto turned around and called to the Uchiha, "come on Sasuke! Hurry up"  
Sasuke made up his mind, maybe he should keep an eye on this Hyuuga kid and inform his brother if anything else seemed...weird.

When Sasuke caught up, both Neji and Naruto were standing around and Naruto greeted his arrival.  
"Where is Hinata?" Sasuke asked, looking around and not spotting the girl.  
"She went to the bathroom," Naruto said non-chalantly.  
"Oh..." That was it? That's why that kid made his face look all, weird?  
Neji leaned up against the wall with his arms crossed, watching the two with nothing but his stoic expression.

Sasuke half listened to Naruto's talking and half watched Neji, who was watching them both intently, he couldn't help but wonder if the Hyuuga kid knew that he saw him...transform.

Naruto was telling Sasuke of the flower mystery that Neji solved, but how the Hyuuga had somehow got offended and then called him a yellow cat, "I don't look like a cat do I?" Naruto asked.  
Sasuke looked Naruto up and down, "yes, you do"  
"But im not a cat! Im Naruto!" Naruto crossed his arms and Neji smirked shaking his head.  
"So, your not a cat, but you look like one. My brother tells me I remind him of his old pet Snip who was a black cat," Sasuke informed, and both Neji and Naruto couldn't help but laugh.

"Your brother, he, that's so mean," the Hyuuga fell on the ground in a fit of laughter, not able to control himself.  
"What kind of name is Snip?" Naruto didn't get what the Hyuuga was talking about, but what kind of name was that for a cat?  
Sasuke blushed and looked down, fighting tears of humiliation, "shut up."

Hinata walked out of the rest room and was surprised at the scenario which sat before her, both Naruto and Neji were on the ground in a fit of laughter and Sasuke was standing with his hands in his pockets, looking like he was about to cry, "what's going on"  
Sasuke blushed more and tears soon came out, "nothing," he managed to say and then turned around with his back to them all.

Hinata blushed and walked up to the Uchiha, placing a hand on his shoulder she whispered, "I promise I will never laugh at you, no matter what happens...so don't be sad"  
Sasuke stiffened his back and his tears stopped instantly. Neji went back to his stoic serious expression and picked himself off of the floor. Naruto's laughing continued for a few more seconds before he picked himself up as well.

"We should get going, it would not be good for a bunch of adults to spot us," Neji pointed out.  
Hinata tuned around, "okay," and she took her place next to the Hyuuga's side.  
As they all went on their way, Sasuke reluctantly followed.

For a while, their travels were un-disturbed, but fate had taken a wrong turn.  
"What are you kids doing out here?" Asked some random Jounnin who just happened to be passing by.  
"We are looking for Nidashi-san!" Naruto proclaimed.  
"Who?" The Jounnin asked with a raised eye brow, this being the first time he ever heard the name.  
"My father sent us to deliver a message to a friend of his, who lives not far from here. This is not the first time, his name is Nidashi," Neji stepped up, if he were to leave this to Naruto, they would all get in some big trouble.  
"Oh, well be careful kids," he patted Neji on the head and went on his way.

"Your father and Nidashi are friends?" Naruto asked in amazement, he would have never guessed.  
"No, but I couldn't let him know we are wandering around out here"  
"Ooohh," Naruto said nodding his head, he wasn't sure, but he thought he understood where Neji was coming from.

"Should we get going?" The Hyuuga asked, adverting his attention to Sasuke, who seemed to be a little too quiet.  
Sasuke nodded his head, but didn't say anything, he wasn't sure what he would say anyway...to a monster like that.  
"What's wrong?" Neji asked, "your acting weird"  
"No Im not," Sasuke countered, "just cause I don't like to talk to people like you"  
"Why not?" Neji asked, not really understanding where this whole thing was going.  
Sasuke bit his lip and looked down, "nevermind."

Neji looked down at Hinata and she gave him a pleading look, Neji grimaced.  
"Look, im sorry for laughing at you earlier, it was a rude thing to do...can we go now"  
"Yeah!" Naruto punched a fist in the air, "lets go find Nidashi!"

The Uchiha felt embarrassed, that monster kid just apologized to him over something he didn't even really care about. What was he trying to do? Make him look like a fool? And that girl, she has something to do with it all, she's some sort of trigger or key to this monster kid. Maybe she controls him? Tons of possibilities flooded the child's mind, each one more extreme than the last. And Naruto remained oblivious, should he keep it that way? Should he find a way to deal with this without involving that weird blond kid?

While Sasuke's mind was filled with these sort of thoughts, the group passed a row of shops and food stalls, here they had alot of fun and any time someone would stop the kids and ask them what they were doing out here, Neji would pull out his message story and Naruto happily let him deal with it while he drooled at some shop window. Everything he saw he would declare that he wanted. And every time, Hinata would blush and wish that she could get it for him. Her father was always giving her money, but she never needed it, now, when she wished that she had it, her pockets were empty and her little piggy bank at home was full.

"Anou...Naruto-kun," she hesitated, not sure what the boy's reaction would be. Naruto continued to walk, evidently not hearing the poor girl.  
"Naruto-kun..." she tried again, but still to no avail.  
Neji frowned, "Oi! Naruto!" Naruto stopped and turned around to face the Hyuuga.  
"Hinata wants to talk to you," the Hyuuga informed and took a step back.

Hinata blushed a bright red, how was she going to ask him now? When everyone was looking! They would all think she was stupid.  
"What is it Hinata?" Naruto asked with a smile.  
Sasuke and Neji kept their eyes glued on the two of them.  
"Well...where do you live?" She asked in a bare whisper.  
"What?" Naruto asked, getting closer, Hinata blushed.  
"She asked where you live," Neji informed in a loud tone, making Hinata go more red.  
"Oh I live up the block from you! I have my own apartment!" He said proudly with a grin.

"No you don't," Sauske said, not believing a word of it, "your too young"  
"I am not!" Naruto pouted.  
"You live...alone?" Hinata asked, not sure if it was right or not to ask something like that.  
"Yep, all by my self!" He answered in the same proud tone.  
"And your proud of that?" Neji asked, "don't you get lonely"  
"No...im here with you right?" He asked, grinning, he wasn't feeling lonely at all.

Hinata smiled and they were soon out of the shopping strip and in front of a big forest. Actually, Naruto had never seen such huge trees.  
"Wow...should we go in there? Maybe Nidashi got lost in the forest..." Naruto suggested.  
"I don't think so Naruto," Neji said, shaking his head.  
But then they heard something that sounded like yelling.  
"Uh, do you think someone is hurt?" Asked Hinata, worried.  
"I don't know, lets go check it out!" And Naruto entered the dark forest.  
Sasuke didn't like this, that kid expected him to go in there...with that monster and his master the 'sweet' girl? No, no no no.  
"Lets go! Stop hanging around!" Naruto yelled from the tree's, Neji turned to Sasuke, "lets go."

Sasuke gulped and stepped forward, one foot at a time, and soon Neji and Hinata were following him. Now he really didn't like the scenario. Naruto jumped out from behind a bush, "BOO!" He yelled and everyone about fell to the ground out of fear.  
"Don't do that Naruto!" Sasuke screamed at him, what the hell was he thinking!  
Neji glared at the blond, "I will lead"  
"No!" screamed Naruto, "Im leading this journey, your just accompanying me. Hinata is the guide, by the way Hinata," Naruto turned to Hinata, "which way was the screaming coming from"  
"Uh, I think it was coming from that direction...I think," she wasn't really sure and felt really un-easy, what if she was wrong? What if she gets them all lost?  
"I wouldn't worry Hinata-sama," Neji comforted the Hyuuga, "we're already lost, and that wasn't your fault"  
"But...how did you kn-" Hinata started.  
"You looked worried..." Neji trailed off as they continued to walk in the direction Hinata had pointed out.

"Shhh! Get down!" Naruto whispered and dropped to the ground, everyone followed his actions quickly and Naruto took a peek through the bushes.  
"What is it?" Sasuke asked in a bare whisper.  
"There's people...and their fighting," Naruto said in a worried tone.  
"We should leave...I don't want to be here..." She grabbed hold of Neji's sleeve, but was aiming her advice toward the blond.  
"Wow! There amazing!" Naruto said in a louder tone, causing Neji to flinch, "Shh!"

**xoxoxoxox**

Deep within one of the many Konoha training grounds, a three man gennin team trained hard for the up-coming chunnin exam. They had been at it all day and were now getting restless.

"Wait!" The tallest 12 year old shouted and held up a hand to signal the other two to stop.  
"What is it?" The girl who wore low pigtails tied with red ribbons asked, walking up and staring off into the direction the boy was facing.  
The third kid who was standing in the back, took out a few kunai.  
"I heard something," he pointed to the bushes in front of him and they all slowly approached them with caution.

The third kid pulled his arm back ready to strike whatever it was hiding in those bushes. But a child popped out.  
"Stop!" Hinata yelled, eyes clenched tight.  
Neji soon stood and shielded her from whatever it was that might hit her.  
"There kids!" The girl with red ribbons gasped, "what are you doing out here?"

Naruto popped up from out of the bushes as well, "we are looking for Nidashi-san"  
Sasuke soon followed and the tallest gennin laughed, "it looks like we were out-numbered"  
"Who is it your looking for?" The girl asked, bending down to the blonde's height.  
"Nidashi-san!" Naruto repeated but the girl held blank look on her face, as if her mind was somewhere else.  
"Ive never heard of him," the boy in the back stated.  
"We need to get to Shino's house," Naruto added.  
Neji raised an eyebrow, "I thought we were looking for this Nidashi-san"  
"Yeah, but Shino house is at Nidashi-san's house," he clarified, although it didn't do much good, all kids were confused now.

Out of all the kids standing there, Neji could swear that he had heard that name somewhere before. He remembered his father talking about some kid named Shino who was part of some kind of clan...

"Naruto," Neji placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder, "tell me more about this Shino," he instructed.  
"He has lots of bugs-" and he was about to go on, but Neji interrupted him.  
"The Aburame clan!" He cheered out of victory, satisfied at the fact that he figured it out, he turned to the...female.  
"We need to get to the Aburame clan estate," he informed.  
"Now you need to get to the Aburame estate?" She asked in a doubtful tone.

"Hey, I know where that is, I can take you," the tall gennin informed, pointing a thumb in the direction.  
I don't know...what are these kids doing out here anyway?" The last thing she needed today was trouble.

The kid shrugged and began to walk out of the area, "I don't really care, I used to run around all the time as a kid," he turned around to the children, "you coming"  
All four nodded and ran up to catch up. Within ten minutes they were out of the training grounds and back in front of the shopping strip, which was now much less busy.

"This way," he instructed and continued to lead the way.  
In a way Hinata was relived but she was still worried, could she trust this guy? By the look on her cousins face it seemed that she couldn't. Neji's eyes were glued to the back of the gennin and his face held speculation.  
"What's wrong?" Hinata whispered to her cousin.  
"I don't trust him..." He bluntly replied, a little too loud.  
"I think he's nice!" Naruto proclaimed, way too loud.  
Sasuke said nothing and really he didn't care. If that monster kid didn't trust that older kid, then maybe that older kid was a really good person, not like it mattered anyway.

They walked for what seemed like forever and it was a very boring walk. The older boy was much faster on his feet then the four of them and it was all they could do to keep up with him. They had no time to look around and attempt to remember their surroundings or have fun in any way. They didn't notice at first, but slowly, the kid sped up and soon, they were running with all their might in order to keep up.

Neji glared at the boy and then stopped, "Im not moving any further," he declared, and soon, the rest of them stopped.  
The gennin turned around "you kids are pretty good! I figured you would stop long time ago"  
"What was the meaning of this?" Asked Neji in a somewhat irritated voice.  
"Yeah, what was the meaning of this?" Naruto chimed in.

The gennin kid laughed, "the Aburame clan is on the other side of the village, I figured we would make better time if I somehow got you all running. We're half way there, the hospital is just down this road, which is the center of the village"  
"And"  
"If we are to get there before sunset, we should run..." the gennin trailed off, just now noticing the clear blue eyes of the Hyuuga, "are you of the Hyuuga clan"  
Neji nodded, the gennin pointed to Hinata, "and your of Hyuuga blood too"  
Hinata blushed, but nodded.

"Does your family know your out here?" Maybe he should have listened to his teammate and stayed out of these kids way, the last thing he needed was to be accused of kidnapping two Hyuuga children. All sorts of images flooded his mind, he had read stories of what the Hyuuga do to those who are found meddling with their affairs.

"My father has sent me to deliver a message to the Aburame household," the Hyuuga's words were clear, un-cut, and his eyes stared right into the gennin's eyes with pure confidence.  
"All the way on the other side of the village? And who is this Nidashi guy"  
Neji looked at the gennin as if he were insulted, "Nidashi-san is a friend of my father, he resides in the Aburame estate"  
The gennin opened his mouth as if to ask another question, "I would advise you to refrain from any more of your questions," the Hyuuga implied, with a deep scowl.  
Naruto just blinked, and Sasuke, although no one knew it, was shaking like there was a blizzard going on.

The gennin nodded and turned around, "uh," he turned to Sasuke, "should we run"  
What? Why is he asking me! "I don't care"  
"Okay," he turned around and began to run, all four followed him, Neji glared at Sasuke's back, didn't he just say that he would not run anymore?  
Sasuke could feel the cold stare from someone behind him, and it could only be Neji. Hinata was incapable of such a stare.  
This was not good.

For an hour longer they ran, and soon Naruto began to recognize his surroundings, they were close now, very close to the Aburame estate and Naruto couldn't wait to get to Nidashi's house. He could just picture the old man sitting on his porch lazily dozing off.

But sadly, it was getting dark and one would not see who was sitting of his porch since there are no lights, just the moon, if there even be one tonight.  
"How are you kids going to get back in the dark?" The gennin asked, slowing down.  
"We will be staying with Nidashi," Neji explained, "now hurry, I don't want to linger here until it gets dark," he would never admit it, but the dark was one thing that Neji did not get along with, it terrified him.

The kid shrugged and continued down the road, but this time, at a slow pace. Soon they were standing in front of the huge Aburame gates.  
"Well, your here! Should I wait and see you in"  
"That's not necessary," the Hyuuga informed and the kid shrugged his shoulders and dashed off back in the direction they came.  
"Oi," Naruto turned his head to the Hyuuga, "what does necessary mean"  
"Never mind, which way is this Nidashi's house? Does he really live in the Aburame estate?"

Naruto turned his head, "its down there," he pointed down the road, "its over that hill"  
Neji nodded and lead the way up the hill, but when they reached the top and looked down onto the other side, it was way too dark to see, just as Naruto had predicted.

"Are you sure its down there?" Sasuke asked, a bit skeptical.  
Naruto nodded, but in a way he was disappointed, none of the lights in the house were on, if they were, you would at least be able to see a yellow glow, but there was nothing. It was pitch black.

"I don't want to go..." Hinata whispered to Neji.  
"So what are we going to do now?" Neji asked, a bit irritated at the situation.

The image of the Kitsune flashed through Naruto's mind. As much as he hated it, they would have to keep going, they couldn't just stand out here in the dark.

**xoxoxox**_To Be Continued_**xoxoxox**


	11. What's a Ninja?

**Disclaimer.**.. I do not own Naruto...Never did...Never will...sigh.

**Written by**... Treina (Angel Crack)

**Names.**  
**Nidashi .** Old Man (who brought Naurto the chair)  
**Mujaki **. Shino's Dad Kaiwa . Shino's Mom

**xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox**

**Aishiteru Naruto**

**Chapter 11 - What's a Ninja?**

**Naruto **- Age: four  
**Hinata**- Age: four  
**Neji**- Age: five  
**Sasuke**- Age: four 

All four children decided it best to go on ahead in stead of just standing around. It was dark, but there was nothing they could do about that. Besides, their vision was adjusting and they could make some things out. Hinata held on to Neji's arm tightly and Naruto led the way.

Sasuke cursed himself for going along with this stupid escapade; he hated always being in the back where no one would notice him disappear if something were to happen to him. The entire time he tried to block out the images and stories his brother would tell him about his latest mission. Although he was somewhat thankful, being in front of Neji made him nervous. But the stupid blond had to lead. He would feel much better with Naruto in the back. It was selfish thinking, but he could see no other way in solving his dilemma. Not that it mattered now; they were here and would soon be inside the house. Whether this Nidashi guy really existed, he had no clue.

They reached the bottom of the hill and Naruto ran up to the door, pounding on it while looking through the window. It was dark and nothing around them stirred. "Nidashi-san!" Naruto yelled, in attempt to wake him up if he might be sleeping.  
"I don't think anyone's here," Hinata whispered, letting go of Neji to cling on the blonde's arm.  
"He's got to be here!" Naruto exclaimed, pounding on the door for a second time.

Neji walked up next to Naruto and placed a hand on the door, turning it slightly; he found that it was un-locked. He pushed the door gently and it swung open, revealing a very dark and empty house. Naruto pushed the feeling in his throat aside as his hand searched for the light. Soon the entire house was lit and Naruto gasped. Everything in the house was gone, everything. Where was Nidashi's things? Was he robbed? Could the robber still be here? Naruto looked around the house a bit before plopping himself down on the main room floor.

"No one's here," Neji decided he would state the obvious while glaring the blond down, "and we're totally lost"  
Tears began to well up in Hinata's eyes. But she fought to suppress them.  
"If we stay here someone will find us..." Sasuke stated, remembering what his father always told him about getting lost in the village.  
"Hmm..." Neji wasn't too hopeful, who would find them here, in this empty abandoned house?  
"So what do we do?" Hinata didn't like the feel of this empty house.  
"We wait," Neji answered, leading the Hyuuga to the middle of the room and soon all four children were sitting in a circle.

Neji kept his glare fixed on Naruto and Sasuke didn't like the vibes coming from the Hyuuga and it was all Hinata could do just to not burst into tears.  
"I have food!" Naruto decided to lighten the mood a bit and opened his bag, but was disappointed to find that the cookies had mashed in with the clothes and he was only able to salvage a few.

Sasuke eyed the cookies; he had never seen anything like that. The cooks at home never made things that looked like that, "what are they"  
"Cookies!" Naruto cheered as he broke a piece off for Sasuke to try.  
The Uchiha popped a piece into his mouth and then spit it out, handing the rest to Hinata, "its sweet"  
Hinata blushed, she always loved sweet things, and she broke a piece off and savored the taste that filled her mouth, "its good!" Surprised, she turned to Naruto, "did you make them"  
Naruto shook his head, "no...I don't know who did, but the Third said I could have them. They were there when I moved in"  
"You just moved into this apartment?" Neji asked, preferring to not have any of the...cookie.  
"I don't belive it," Sasuke muttered, crossing his arms.

Naruto ignored Sasuke, "I moved in yesterday, I was staying in the hospital before that"  
Hinata knew that had to be true, she remembered buying him the get-well flower.  
It all added together, but it was still a lot for Neji to swallow and he wasn't absolutely sure he was ready to belive this hard to belive fact, if it is a fact.  
"Will you show me where you live tomorrow?" Hinata asked in an outburst and a heavy blush.  
Naruto smiled, "sure, how about when it gets light outside"  
"I'm not so sure about that," Neji began, but Hinata tossed him a heavy glare, which instantly silenced him.  
"Do you promise?" She asked, standing up.  
Naruto backed up slightly, "uh, sure, I promise"  
Neji glared at the ground near his feet.

Sasuke wasn't sure what to think. The longer he watched them, the more confused he got. Was Hinata's targeting Naruto? Is that why she wants him to take her to his apartment where he claims to live all alone? What will she do? Turn the blond into a monster like Neji so she can control him? All the while he kept making notes in his head, things he would have to remember to tell his brother. That is, if he ever sees his brother again.

For a while no one said anything. Naruto and Hinata finished up the cookies and looked around, "are we supposed to sleep here?" Hinata asked, fighting a shiver.  
"I guess...its a little cold," Naruto looked around the empty room. Everything was gone, not even a blanket left in the house.  
Hinata hugged her legs, she had never lived a night where she had wished the sun would come up so badly. Sadly it was only nine, although it felt like much much later and the children were all ready starting to get a little tired.

This was not good, was he supposed to sleep here? With that monster thing? Then Sasuke panicked, he was supposed to be home for dinner and that was before sundown. His father would tan his hide and he knew it. "I supposed to be home for dinner!" Sasuke startled everyone by standing up and putting two hand on the sides of his head. "What am I going to do? What if he thinks something terrible happened"  
"Calm down, we can look for your house tomorrow, for now you need to sleep." Neji didn't even glance at Sasuke; he kept his eyes closed and his arms crossed.  
"How do you know what I need?" Sasuke spat, "my father will be mad, my broth"  
"No one cares about your brother Sasuke, he's not here and had no say in any matter, just sit down." Neji was getting tired of the constant brother talk. This kid needed to get a life. In some ways, he was worse than the blond.  
"I have to get some sleep, I need to be at the academy tomorrow."

Naruto cocked his head to the side, "what's that"  
Neji looked at Naruto for a second before returning to his sleeping pose, "I'm in training to be a Ninja"  
"What's a ninja?" Naruto was surprised that he had never heard the term before.  
"Just go to sleep Naruto," Neji sighed, what a bunch of little kids, cant even go to sleep at a decent time of night.  
"But I'm not tired!" The blond protested, wanting to know more about this academy thing.  
"What do you do there, at the academy?" Neji glared at Naruto and said nothing before returning to his closed eyes and crossed arms.  
"I will tell you tomorrow," he whispered after a few minutes of silence, as if it were his last word, he fell asleep.  
Hinata watched her cousin for a few minutes making sure he was sleeping, she got up and walked over to the blond, "can I sleep here?" She asked, pointing to the empty spot next to him.

Sasuke frowned, can she not wait? Will she make her move now? Sasuke watched her every move.  
"Uh..sure," Naruto said with a smile, this girl really was weird. Why would he care if she came to sit next to him?  
Hinata sat down and snuggled herself against the blond.

Now what was she doing? The behavior was familiar to the Uchiha, he remembered times when his mother would do the same thing to his father. Or sometimes Itachi would bring over girls who would try and do it, but he would always push them away and tell them to get a life. He was surprised at the blonde's reaction to the little witch girl. Good thing her pet was asleep.

"What are you doing?" Naruto asked, backing up slightly with a weird look on his face.  
"Your warm..." Hinata said with a slight blush.  
Naruto began to laugh as Hinata's head rubbed slightly on his shoulder, "that tickles! Stop it!" Naruto stood up and looked down at the now embarrass Hinata.  
"What's wrong with you?" Naruto asked, scratching his shoulder, he had always been known to be very ticklish.

"I...well..." Hinata diverted her eyes down to the side, her face bright red. What the hell was she thinking?! What was wrong with her?  
"What's wrong with you? Dont talk to Hinata-sama like that. What's going on?" Neji, who was now awake turned to Hinata.  
Sasuke watched intently, getting ready to make a run if he had to.  
"Well...I was cold..." Hinata struggled to get the words out. How could she tell him? It was a horrible thing to do. But ever since she had laid eyes on the blond she always had an incredible urge to snuggle up with him.

Neji wasn't sure what went on, but whatever it was, he didn't like it.  
"I was cold..." Hinata tried again, but was stopped, she couldn't possibly tell him.  
"Yes, we know that," a voice boomed in through the room and everyone turned around, Neji's eyes widened for a second before going stoic.  
Behind them stood Hiyashi, but that was just the half of it. Itachi and the Third stood in the doorway as well, all holding some kind of bright light source.  
"What's going on here?" The Third asked, fully stepping into the house.  
"What are you all doing here?" Hiyashi demanded to know, his glare focused on Neji.

"Hinata wanted to run around with Naruto and I couldn't let her go alone." Neji explained.  
"Are you saying this is Hinata's fault?" Hiyashi snapped, Neji didn't flinch.  
"No sir, I should have stopped her"  
"We were looking for Nidashi-san," Hinata added, hoping Neji wouldn't get in too much trouble due to her account.  
"Nidashi? Nidashi died a few days ago," the Third pointed out and looked at Naruto. Naruto frowned.

"Come on Sasuke, dad is worried about you." With that, both of the Uchiha's took their leave, Sasuke telling him everything that happened as they left.  
"We need to get home as well, I want to talk more about this, but it's too late." He bid farewell to the Third and left the house as well.

Only the Third and Naruto remained.

"Where are Nidashi's things?" Naruto asked.  
"They have been put into storage, most of it belongs to you now, but we have nothing else to do with it"  
"Its late, but I think you need to see something," he grabbed hold of Naruto's hand and led him out of the house.  
"The entire Hyuuga clan was in an uproar today because the Hyuuga heir and her protector was missing," the Third informed Naruto, "Hinata has always had a problem with wandering around, you shouldn't encourage her."

Naruto yawned as they walked down many roads, not scared at all now that the Third was here. Soon they were in a part of the village that Naruto had never seen before. It was darker in this area of the village and no buildings could be seen due to the tree's that surrounded them. Naruto didn't like it here and began to get nervous, but the Third steadily walked on not paying attention to the child's behavior.

"Where are we going?" Naruto asked, griping the Third's hand tighter.  
The Third sighed, "We are going to see Nidashi," he knew it was cruel, but it was the only way that Naruto would see the truth.  
The blonde's mood brightened a bit but was pushed back due to their dark and dreary surroundings, it sounded too good to be true anyway and why would Nidashi be here of all places? Why was all his stuff gone?

They walked on for a few more minutes before stopping in front of a big abstract statue thing, they stood for a few minutes not saying anything, Naruto looking at the object with a confused expression on his face, "what's this?" He asked, looking up at the Third.

The Hokage sighed, "this is where Nidashi was buried after the funeral which you didn't attend, I think back on it and maybe we should have taken you"  
Naruto took a few steps back, eye's glued to the tombstone, "you're lying"  
"No Naruto, his name is right here," the Third pointed out the name that was engraved in the tomb.  
Naruto clenched his eyes refusing to look, "no its not"  
"Naruto!" The Third snapped, making Naruto open his eyes, "Nidashi is dead and this is the proof"  
"I know!!" Naruto screamed at the top of his lungs, "I know!!"

Why did the old man have to do this? Why couldn't he just leave it like it was? It was okay for him to pretend that Nidashi had never died, when he would pretend, it was just like the real thing, it was just like having Nidashi down the street. Why did everyone want to make him sad? Why did everyone want to take what little he had? Even if it was, just, all in his mind. It didn't matter! He could have still been happy.

For a week the blond didn't talk to the Third. Every day the old man would show up at his apartment and leave food along with clean clothes, during that time Naruto would make himself scarce. Mostly staying in his room, then after the Third would leave he would take his place next to the window and wait for Hinata to show up so they could spend the rest of the day playing. Sometimes she would bring her cousin and they would run into Sasuke every once and a while when they were out wandering the village.

One day Hinata showed up with her cousin and Sasuke, they all sat in the main room and Sasuke pulled out his kunai, "this was my very first kunai," Sasuke said, showing it off to everyone. Neji frowned.  
"My dad gave me this one," he whipped his out and showed it off as well.  
"Well yours is all scratched up!" Sasuke pointed out teasing the monster boy.  
"That's cause I've had to use it more," Neji said proudly and Sasuke frowned, "I bet you have"  
"Why have you used it?" Naruto asked, pointing to the sharp piece of metal.  
"Cause I have to train everyday at the academy and every day when I get home," he talked as if it were such a privilege to get into the academy.

"What is the academy?" Naruto asked the Hyuuga for the second time, maybe this time he would tell the blonde, considering he wasn't trying to sleep.  
"It's where you go to become a ninja, and I'm going to be the best"  
"Can I go?" Naruto's eyes lit up, whoever a ninja was, it must be really cool if you have to go to a school all day and train.  
"No," Neji tucked his kunai back into his shirt, "your too young"  
Naruto frowned, "no I'm not"  
"Well I'm going next year," Sasuke proclaimed.  
"Well I'm going this year!" Naruto decided. He would do anything to get in, he didn't know why; maybe it was because everyone else seemed to be doing it.  
"What about you Hinata?" Naruto asked, turning to her wanting to know if she was going to go.  
"Uh..." if Naruto was going to go, of course she would, but she couldn't say that in front of her cousin.  
"Yeah...next year...probably," Hinata added the probably just in case Naruto did end up going to the academy early.

Neij raised an eyebrow, "you're going to the academy? I was never told of this"  
"Well...I haven't told anyone yet," Hinata explained.  
Neji didn't really like the idea, the reason for him going to the academy had to do with her protection, what kind of a failure would it make him look like if she went and joined the academy and became a ninja. Did she not have enough confidence in him as her protector? Maybe he should talk to Hyashi-sama about this. Maybe they should appoint a different person if she does not have any confidence.

For the rest of the day until the three kids left, Neji sulked around the apartment not really knowing how he was going to face Hiyashi when Hinata tells him that she wants to join the academy. It would be best if he were able to talk to Hiyashi before she got to him. Unless he already knows and is searching for a replacement as we speak. What would his father think of him getting replaced at the age of five! What kind of cruel world was this?

All the kids bid farewell to one another as the sunset behind the village Hokage monument and Naruto watched them all disappear behind the corner. As he turned around to leave, two kids caught his eye. They were sitting on the steps of the small shop just across from his apartment and one of them seemed to be eating what looked to be a bag of chips, while the other chatted away. Naruto was surprised, he had never seen these kids before and they both looked very peculiar to him, totally unlike the Hyuuga's and Uchiha who were almost considered royalty in the village. These were dirty scabbed up kids.

Naruto stayed where he was for a while watching them, until the one who was talking, noticed he was being watched.

**xoxoxoxox**

"Ne Chouji," Shikamaru nudged his friend, "someone's watching us"  
Chouji looked up from his chip bag and looked with question at the blonde across the street whose eyes were un-doubly staring in their direction, "who is he?" He asked, a mouth full of chips.

Shikamaru shrugged, "Don't know...don't really care," but something inside him told him to talk to this boy. But it looked like he didn't have to; Naruto began to march right up to them.

"Hi!" He said with a huge grin.  
"Hi..." Shikamaru and Chouji both answered back, then for a long while they were all silent.  
"I have to go home," Shikamaru sighed as he lifted himself from the cement, "mom always gets so worried, jeez women are so troublesome"  
"I will come with you!" Chouji announced.  
"What about your parents?" Shikamaru pointed out.

"Anou..." Naruto started, "will you come play with me tomorrow"  
Both Shikamaru and Chouji stopped and looked at him, "I don't even know who you are...to me, your a stranger and mom always tells me to never talk to strangers," with that, he got up and began to walk down the road, Chouji clumsily following him.

Naruto stared at their backs as they were leaving, what is a stranger? He thought to himself.

"That kid is weird," Shikamaru pointed out, Chouji nodded his head in agreement.

**xoxoxoxox**

Later that night, Naruto would have to remember to ask the Hokage about the Academy, who knows, maybe one day he could become ninja and save the good people from the bad people! But that night, the Hokage did not show up, and once again, he fell asleep at the window waiting for him.

When the Hokage arrived the next morning, he found Naruto still at the window, shivering. He shook his head and made his way over to the boy, "Naruto..." he whispered, shaking the boy gently. Crystal blue eyes looked up at him, "Hokage-sama?"

"How many times have I told you to not sleep by the window, you'll catch a cold. He walked into the kitchen and began to prepare breakfast for him.  
"Ne, what's a ninja"  
"More than half the people here are Ninja's, they are strong, skilled people who protect this village and others from bad doings"  
"I want to be a ninja!" Naruto announced.

The Hokage smiled, of course he would want to be a ninja, but surprisingly, he never really thought about the idea.  
"You have to spend a few years at the academy in order to be a ninja"  
"I want to go to the academy! Neji goes to the academy and he has his own kunai and everything"  
Sarutobi chuckled at the comment, "well...your a little young," he pointed out, giving a sad look to the blonde.  
"I don't care! I want to go now!" Naruto crossed his arms in protest.  
"There is a place for you, it's not the academy though, and you will be with children who are more advanced, children who have been in school all year. You will have to learn how to catch up. Do you still want to go"  
Naruto nodded his head with excitement.

"Well, I have a few things I need to do later on today, but I will be back this afternoon and we can go meet your soon to be teacher. Get ready and I will come to pick you up. Eat your breakfast, take a bath and get dressed by the time I arrive," with that, he left the apartment.

Naruto didn't like the idea of taking a bath, but he would do everything else. The old man would never know. He smiled and headed to the kitchen in search of what Sarutobi brought him for breakfast.

**xoxoxoxox**

The Third wandered to the small building not two blocks from the academy and stepped inside. As the bell on the door rang, all the children and the present teacher stood up and looked in his direction.

"Say good-morning," she instructed and they all, in sync bid the Hokage good morning.  
"What brings you here Hokage-sama?" A bit nervous, this was only her second week teaching, and she had yet to get a visit from the Hokage, "I wasn't told you were coming."

"I'm here to enroll a child into your class," the old man smiled, he could easily tell the nervousness of the young woman.  
"Oh, one moment," she smiled politely and turned to the class, "you all can have recess now, we will continue within the hour."

At that point, all the children began laugh and yell until they were all outside. The young woman pulled out a few sheets of paper and a pen, "so what's this child's name and what year was he born?" She scribbled the pen on a separate piece of paper to make sure the utensil worked.

"Uzumaki Naruto, October 10th, age four," The Hokage stated with ease, but the woman went tense; she looked around to see if anyone was there to hear what she was about to say.  
"The holder of the Kitsune?" She asked in a whisper.  
Sarutobi frowned, "yes, that is correct"  
Not writing anything down, the woman's eyes grew dazed, staring off deep into the paper.  
"Is there a problem?" He placed a hand on the desk, snapping her out of her daze.  
"Well...uh...not to sound rude Hokage-sama, but are you sure that's a good idea? What about the children?" Her hands shook at the memory of the Kyuubi.  
"What about the children? They don't know...and I plan to keep it that way, is that understood?" The girl nodded un-emotional.  
"The boy wants to be a ninja, and I see no reason to refuse him. He does nothing but sit around all day anyway, I think this would be good for him," he didn't like the way this woman was seeing things. Did everyone think of the boy in this manor? No, some were way worse.  
"But...I don't thi-" She was cut off by a frustrated Hokage.  
"He will be joining this class, and if I hear about anything a miss, you will be replaced, is that understood? I don't want to hear another word about it."

The woman nodded, "I understand sir," and quickly began jotting down the name and birth of the child. After he signed it, he left the room, "I will be bringing him in later today to meet you and the others, please be prepared for our arrival."

**xoxoxoxox**

Three hours later, Naruto sat in his apartment watching out his window for the third. That when he spotted some familiar people on the street. Shikamaru and Chouji were once again sitting on the curb, Shikamaru chatting away and Chouji's hand in a bag of chips. A smile beamed across the blondes face as he grabbed his jacket and headed out the door. They did come back to play with him!

"I'm telling you, that woman is crazy," Shikamaru stated and Chouji nodded in agreement.  
"First she tells us to go outside to have recess and then comes out and tells us to go home. She could have let us go before she ordered us outside. I liked our last teacher way better, a woman could never understand a man's feelings." Chouji nodded once again in agreement. He really liked Shikamaru, there was so much he could learn from him, and he had all the time in the world to do it.

"Hi guys!!" Naruto yelled, running across the street with a smile on his face and a hand waving around in the air above his head.  
"Oh its him again, looks like he must live in that apartment across the street," Shikamaru sighed, "I guess we will have to find a different spot to hang out"  
Chouji looked up at the weird kid and said nothing.

"What are you doing?" Naruto asked in a very curious tone.  
"We're having a man to man discussion here..." Shikamaru stated in what seemed like an irritated tone, "we just got out of school"  
"Really?" Naruto cocked his head to the side wondering if this was the school that he would attend, "I'm going to the academy"  
Shikamaru raised an eyebrow, "how old are you"  
"I'm four!" He replied in a proud tone, holding up three fingers.

"Hmmm, three...or four?" Shikamaru was amazed at the kids stupidity, he had learned to count 'many' years ago.  
"I'm four!" Naruto was insulted, was this kid stupid? Didn't he just state that he was four?  
"Well, if that's the case, you cant get into the academy until next year, and even then you must graduate Konoha Primary," he got up and began to stretch his legs, Chouji followed in his actions, tossing the chip bag in a near by trash can, now that the bag was empty.  
"I will gradate!" Naruto said with a frown.  
"We will see, and besides, your not even in school, I've never seen you in class." Chouji nodded.

"I'm going today! Old man Hokage said so," he smiled and was happy that there would be someone that he knew in the class.  
Shikamaru once again raised his eyebrow in disbelief, "hmm, I doubt it," for one thing, the Hokage was a busy man and didn't have time to raise little blond kids, more or less take them to school. "Besides, school is out for the day, you would be wasting your time."

A wave of disappointment showered over the boy's face, "but the old man Hokage said he would take me there later today"  
"Hmm, maybe he was lying to you"  
Chouji frowned, "Shikamaru...I don't think the Hokage would lie"  
"Have you ever met the man?" Shikamaru asked, turning to his friend.  
"No...But we saw him today remember? And he didn't look like the kind of person who would lie"  
Shikamaru shrugged, "oh well, I guess you will see soon enough. I need to get home for lunch, oh yeah," he turned back to Chouji, "my mom wanted to know if you want to come over for lunch today."

A sparkle grew in Couji's eyes, "Yes! I love your moms cooking"  
Shikamaru smirked, "well then, see you," he waved a hand at Naruto and began walking back down the road, leaving a disappointed Naruto behind.  
"Naruto, what are you doing out here?" The Hokage asked as he walked up to the young boy. Naruto looked down with embarrassment, "ne, did you lie to me"  
Sarutobi frowned, "no...What would I lie to you about?" "Shikamaru said that school was out already...so there was no point in going today"  
The Hokage laughed, "no, your not going to school today, but you are going to meet your new teachers," he took Naruto by the hand, "lets go, their waiting for us"  
A huge smiled beamed across Naruto's face, "yeah!" He shouted, pounding his fist into the air.

"What youth!!" A nearby jounin commented.

**xoxoxoxox**

"Here we are," the Hokage commented as he opened to the door to the classroom, "this is where you will begin your training"  
Naruto took a step back. He didn't think the place would be so big. Off to the left, there were tons of chairs and a huge colorful rug. There was an entire section with all kinds of scrolls and weird looking things, which he couldn't fathom what they would be used for other than decoration. And in the huge square shaped floor where nothing resided but the beautiful polished wooden floor and four people who were all wearing the same facial expression. They all bowed low and greeted the Hokage with proper respect. The Hokage bowed in response and muttered something small before pointing to Naruto.

So now what? What was he going to do? Did the old man want him to introduce himself? "Anou...hello," Naruto greeted, bowing low.  
One of the oldest that was in the room seemed disgusted at the response. "Hmmm, he has much to learn..." He mentioned.  
"And what better place to learn than here?" The Hokage slyly asked.  
"It is true," the oldest began, "we do have the finest school in Konoha, we will find some way to help this...thing. He can start tomorrow; just make sure he's here by eight am sharp. We don't tolerate lateness"  
"Hai hai," The Third smiled, understanding completely, escorting the young Naruto out of the building and back to the apartment.

As soon as they arrived at the apartment, Naruto could not keep still and finally, the Hokage got him to fall asleep. Tomorrow would be the beginning of a new life for Naruto. No longer would he have to sit in his apartment with no one and nothing to do. Now he could go out into the village and learn who he is and who he wants to be. The Third knew that the only hope for Naruto was within the children, as long as they never knew.

**xoxoxoxox**

The next morning, the Hokage awoke Naruto and told him that he was going to the academy today. Naruto jumped up out of bed with a glorious smile on his face and headed to the bathroom, already knowing that the Third would want him to take a shower. Shower's, Naruto learned, are a good thing. Bath's on the other hand...every time Naruto thought of a bath, he couldn't help but picture Shino covered in little black bugs. So after he was finished with his shower, the Hokage helped him dress and they set off to the Academy, the Third buying him a bentoo for lunch.

With every step that he took in the direction of the Academy, his heart raced faster and he grew more anxious. But there was nothing that would make him turn back now. He was going to meet more kids and learn how to be a ninja! He would protect people and become a hero, this he knew, but for some reason, he couldn't help but be afraid. There were so many questions that ran through his mind, what if they are mean to him? Would he still have to go? What would they do to him when he gets in trouble? All these things made his worry grow and finally, they stepped foot into the Academy, and as Naruto saw the instructor smile at him; he knew everything would be okay.

_THE END_

There it is! It's done! Dances around His childhood up until his academy days are finished. I hope you enjoyed it...and sorry for the bad ending...but I didn't want to do anything angst...not yet anyway MWAHahaha! I donno...I might do another fic to go with this one about his academy days...but it will probably be later...and I will probably finish the first five chapters to it before I begin uploading. Once again, sorry for the bad ending...if I think of anything, I will change it. Thanks again! It was a lot of fun writing this fic!


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